The Biggest Loser: Couples contestant Melissa Morgan's poor weight-loss numbers apparently weren't gameplay after all.

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Melissa, a 39-year-old attorney from Aspermont, TX, became the eighth contestant eliminated from The Biggest Loser: Couples during last night's ninth-season episode of the NBC reality weight-loss series.

She was automatically ousted after gaining a pound and weighing-in at 199 pounds during the competition's sixth weigh-in -- which left her with the week's worst weight-loss percentage and below its special red immediate elimination line.

"I gained a pound.  I gained a pound!  What's wrong, what is the problem?" Melissa said following her ouster.  "I don't get it.  I'm not doing any less than anyone else.  I'm eating what I'm supposed to be eating.  Why am I gaining a pound?"

"I can't figure out my body, because I go from losing 19 [pounds] to gaining a pound to losing only one pound to [losing] 11 pounds."

After her weigh-in weight was announced, Melissa -- who had been the last contestant to weigh-in -- immediately began asking the other contestants to ensure that her husband Lance Morgan, a 38-year-old rancher who had been the other half of her Red team, doesn't leave The Biggest Loser ranch soon behind her.

"You have to keep Lance here.  And you have to keep him motivated.  He can't come home before [he hits] 250 [pounds].  He can not come home before 250!" she said.  "If anyone has to go home today I think it should be me because everyone else out there has serious medical issues they need to deal with and my distance to me goal weight is way less than anyone else's."

"Do what you know you need to do," Melissa urged Lance, who weighed-in at 305 pounds during the weigh-in.  "I'll be at home, I'll be with the kids, everything is going to be fine.  You're here to focus on you... I'm going home, don't follow me."

As Melissa left, The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper -- who, along with fellow trainer Jillian Michaels, had vocally insisted, despite Melissa and Lance's equally strong protests, that Melissa's poor Week 2 and Week 3 weight-loss numbers had been intentional gameplay since her team had been immune from elimination -- pledged to watch over Lance.

"I'll take really good care of your husband," Bob told Melissa as they shared a goodbye hug.

"Thank you Bob," she cried back.

In a post-elimination update, Melissa -- who began the competition at 233 pounds -- revealed she now weighs 175 pounds and hopes to run a marathon before The Biggest Loser's live finale in May.

"The fact that I struggled with my weight as much as I did, that was real.  Every bit of that was real," she said.

In addition to Melissa's elimination, The Biggest Loser: Couples' sixth weigh-in also ended with two other contestants  -- Cheryl George, a 50-year-old store owner from Ardmore, OK, and Darrell Hough, a 46-year-old press operator/mechanic from Ann Arbor, MI -- facing elimination after falling below the show's traditional yellow line.

However rather than have their fate decided by the usual votes of the other contestants, The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney revealed that they would compete in an endurance challenge to determine who would be eliminated.

The episode ended with Cheryl and Darrell both still competing in the challenge, which required them to balance a lit Olympic torch on their heads while standing in a crotched position.

Due to NBC's Winter Olympics coverage, The Biggest Loser: Couples will be preempted the next two weeks.  Its next episode will air Tuesday, March 2 at 8PM ET/PT.
About The Author: Steven Rogers

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