Julio Gomez, a 40-year-old mortgage loan officer from Algonquin, IL, became the fourth contestant eliminated from The Biggest Loser's eighth season during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality competition.

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"Coming into this, I was very concerned that I was leading gym entire family into a life of unhealthy living," said Julio after his ouster.

"Going home now, they're going to have a whole different dad.  I have changed leaps and bounds since I've been here -- body, mind and soul.  I'm stronger, I'm healthier -- physically and mentally.  I am no longer afraid.  Sometimes in life you need a jumpstart, you just do.  You need something different, and it is an extremely rare opportunity to do something as big as this."

The Biggest Loser's fourth eighth-season episode began following the previous elimination of Red Team members Antoine Dove and Sean Algaier -- as Shauntina "Shay" Sorrells confronted Tracey Yukich about reneging on her promise to have her fellow Orange Team member Daniel Wright weigh-in, instead choosing to have Shay weigh-in.

"When Daniel asked you to put Daniel up and you put me up, that trust was broken no matter what," Shay said Tracey.

Tracy's fellow Purple Team member Mozziz "Mo" Dewalt explained it was a "favor" with nothing coming back to the Purple Team in return, however Shay wasn't buying it.

"It wasn't a favor," she responded.  "I'm not here to argue.  I want it done."

"I am straight up," said Tracey.  "I really am... I assumed that you were going to drop this big-fat number.  I really assumed that."

Shay subsequently stated in a confessional that she's never going to trust Tracey and Mo going forward.

The next day, all of the remaining contestants continued to workout before explaining to trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper how Antoine and Sean "fell on the sword" for Shay.  In addition, Tracey said she plans on talking to a doctor about still being on restricted workouts due to the injuries she suffered during the season's premiere.

Afterward, Jillian implored Julio to work harder and asked if he was happy being so overweight.

"Some people jump in a bottle, others take pills -- I eat cheeseburgers.  It's my drug of choice," he explained in a confessional.  "Sometimes people have to say things to you for you to understand it.  You don't always see it yourself until it just slaps you in the face."

Tracey then met with Dr. Rob Huizenga -- and the news was not what she wanted to hear -- as he informed her that her CPK levels were up and she would have to be shut down completely for a week.  Not only did this mean no training with Bob and Jillian, but it also meant no walking, swimming or exercising at all.

"I'm so frustrated," she opined.  "I'm so aggravated right now.  I don't understand."

Tracey then returned to the ranch and told Mo about her new restrictions.

"Tracey not being able to work, I know that I have to carry the weight for the team this week," he said.

That night, the contestants learned that the kitchen was on lock down for the week -- meaning they would have to order out every single meal.  The Biggest Loser host Allison Sweeney then explained it was time for a pop challenge in which each contestant would have three choices of dinner and had to choose the healthiest.  The winner would receive a stocked kitchen for an entire year.

The challenge commenced -- and the Orange Team of Shay and Daniel, the Brown Team of Danny Cahill and Liz Young, and the Pink Team of Amanda Arlauskas and Rebecca Meyer all correctly chose the healthiest dinner.

For the tiebreaker, they'd have to guess how many calories were in the dinner without going over.  Amanda and Rebecca went the closest without going over and won the challenge.

The contestants subsequently explained the kitchen lock down to Bob and Jillian -- who then took them to dinner to show them how to order healthy foods.

The contestants then arrived at a water park for their next challenge, and Allison revealed they'd be playing for team immunity at the upcoming weigh-in.  She then explained the rules.

Each contestant would grab hold of a handlebar on a platform, which would then rotate and get steeper until it went vertical. Whoever was on last would win. Abby Rike and Tracey sat out due to their injuries.

Liz and Danny were the first two contestants out, eliminating the Brown Team.  Amanda went next, followed by Ruby Pauls.  Rebecca went next -- ousting the Pink Team from the challenge -- and she was followed by Dina Mercado, meaning the Blue Team was also out.  Mo then fell, eliminating the Purple Team, and Shay subsequently followed.  Julio then fell, leaving Allen Smith and Daniel battling for Immunity.

Allen was the first to fall -- meaning Daniel was able to win immunity for himself and Shay.

"That is a great feeling!" said an excited Shay.

"I'm really proud of myself," said Daniel. 

Last-chance workouts then began, with Bob and Jillian pushing everybody to their limits, and Tracey lamented the fact that she couldn't participate.

"Tracey not being able to work, I've got to do things twice as hard, I've got to work twice as long, I've got to do whatever it takes to keep us here at least one more week," said Mo, who eventually hurt his back since he was working so hard.

Bob asked Mo to give it an hour of rest before making a decision about quitting the competition.

"I just think Mo has to get his head on straight.  That's it," said Bob.  "Mo gets his head on straight, he'll want to be here."

The Biggest Loser's fourth eighth-season weigh-in then commenced. Allison explained that the two teams with the lowest percentage of weight loss would fall below the yellow line and thus be up for elimination.

Although Daniel and Shay had immunity, they still weighed-in and were the first to get on the scales.  Shay went from 437 lbs. to 432 lbs. and Daniel started at 287 lbs. and didn't lose anything -- meaning that immunity was especially important.  The Orange Team had a total weight-loss percentage of 0.69%.

"Not a bad strategy," said Allison, accusing Daniel of purposefully not losing weight since he knew he was safe regardless.

"What strategy?" replied Daniel.  "I swear to god."

"I would hope it's strategy because you would be stupid if it wasn't," added Jillian.  "Otherwise you're really going to get the crap beat out of you this week on top of it."

Green Team members Abby and Allen were the next to get on the scale.  Allen started the week at 292 lbs. and lost seven, while Abby started at 216 lbs. and lost three -- giving them a combined weight-loss percentage of 1.97%.  They were followed by the Blue Team.  Rudy started the week at 388 lbs. and lost 11, while Dina started at 234 lbs. and shed five -- giving them a total weight-loss percentage of 2.57%.

The Brown Team went next.  Liz started the week at 243 lbs. and lost three, while Danny started at 390 lbs. and dropped eight -- giving them a combined weight-loss percentage of 1.74%.  The Purple Team was next.  Mo started the week at 326 lbs. and lost eight, while Tracey began at 217 lbs. and dropped four -- giving them a combined weight-loss percentage of 2.21%.

"I am shocked.  I can't believe I just lost four pounds on the scale  -- eating a ton of calories, restricted workouts -- everything against me," said Tracey.  "Who would have figured?"

Julio weighed in next as the sole member of the Black Team, and he needed to lose seven pounds to stay safe.  He started the week at 368 lbs. and only lost four for a total weight-loss percentage of 1.09%.  He said it was "tough" to know he was below the yellow line.

"I struggled mightily to get those four pounds and I'm proud of every one of them," he said.  "it is what it is."

The Pink team was the last to weigh in.  Amanda started at 235 lbs. and lost five, while Rebecca started at 248 lbs. and shed four -- giving them a total weight-loss percentage of 1.86%.

Liz and Danny joined Julio below the yellow line and were thus up for elimination -- and Julio thought it would be a better decision for the other contestants to oust the Brown Team.

"Two gone versus one is better for everyone in the house eventually," he rationalized.  "I don't know how that's going to play in people's minds.  If it's an advantage, it's an advantage."

The contestants began to discuss their upcoming decision -- with Mo claiming Julio was his best friend in the house and made a deal to not vote for him, while Tracey said she had a deal with Liz to not vote for the Brown Team.

The Orange and Pink teams also discussed the decision and knew that the Brown Team would have no problem voting for them but still discussed the strategy of ousting two instead of one.

The elimination ceremony then commenced.  Shay said the Orange Team said they based their vote on who would do the best at home and decided to oust Julio.  Dina said the Blue Team went back and forth on their decision but ultimately settled on voting for the Brown Team.

With the votes tied, Allen said the Green Team also had a hard time making a decision and decided to use logic -- so they chose Julio.  Allison asked what Allen meant by "logic."  He explained that while Julio is one of his closest friends, he felt he had a chance to help two people instead of one by keeping the Brown team.

The Purple Team voted next, and Tracey explained the dilemma facing her and Mo.  Despite being in a deadlock up until the last second, she said they ultimately decided to boot Julio.

With three votes, Julio was eliminated from the competition.

"I have a lot of people that love me at home, and there's no way they're going to let me quit," he said.  "I'm good.  I'm ready to see my family."

During a post-show update, Julio revealed that he has lost an additional 69 pounds since returning home and hopes to be at his goal weight of 207 pounds by the season's live finale in December.

The Biggest Loser's next eighth-season episode will air Tuesday, October 13 at 8PM ET/PT on NBC.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio

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