'The Biggest Loser: Couples' eliminates contestant Sarah Nitta

The Biggest Loser: Couples eliminated Sarah Nitta, a 27-year-old college admissions counselor from Las Vegas, NV, during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition.


Sarah became the tenth contestant ousted from the competition's eleventh season after her Black team posted a lower weight-loss percentage than the Red team at the tenth week's weigh-in.

"When I first came on the show, I didn't even know who I was. I was terrified of everything. I was afraid of working out and I was afraid of getting hurt. I was afraid of failing and afraid of succeeding... This week, I feel like I hit a turning point. I did! It was like I discovered the strength that I haven't ever tapped into before," Sarah said following her ouster.

"I feel like I just hit the jackpot. I've learned how to change my fears into more motivation, to push harder, and to achieve all my goals and now I'm going home. The old Sarah would be defeated but I'm not. I'm going home to win at home and to continue to become who I want to become."

The Biggest Loser's tenth eleventh-season episode began following the elimination of Arthur Wornum, a 34-year-old stay-at-home-dad and day care provider from Portland, OR, who was voted out of the competition by his Red team members -- the contestants training with new trainers Brett Hoebel and Cara Castronuova, originally labeled "the unknowns" -- after they posted the lower weight-loss percentage at the ninth week's weigh-in.


The Black team -- who are the contestants training with veteran trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels -- then joined the Red team and The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney in the voting room, who revealed each team would be required to pick a captain they could trust to lead their group, as the captains would be responsible for making a couple big decisions on behalf of their teams.

The Red team chose Justin Pope, a 39-year-old business owner, city worker and bounty hunter from Logan, UT, to be their captain, while the Black team opted to have Marci Crozier, a 49-year-old health club manager and restaurant owner from Valparaiso, IN, as their leader.

The following day, Marci told her Black team that Alison instructed Justin and herself to make two big decisions for their teams without consulting with them first. Marci then explained she could only choose one person from her team to cook in the kitchen for everyone throughout the week and she selected Olivia Ward, a 35-year-old opera singer and plastic surgery office manager from New York, NY, to take on the task.

Marci also told her team she could only choose two people to workout with their trainers Bob and Jillian that day, and she opted to give Sarah and Olivia's sister Hannah Curlee, a 32-year-old human resources representative from Nashville, TN, the opportunity, because she believed they would get the most use out of an extra workout and needed it most.

Meanwhile, for the Red team, Justin chose Ken Andrews, a 49-year-old pastor from Pasadena, CA, to be the cook for the week, while he selected Ken again and Kaylee Kinikini, a 20-year-old student also from Shelley, ID, to participate in the day's workout with Brett and Cara. Justin felt Ken and Kaylee had to step it up and work harder to lose more weight, as they had not come out of the prior weigh-ins with significant weight-loss percentages. 


Hannah and Sarah then had their workout with Bob and Jillian, while Ken and Kaylee trained with Brett and Cara. The next day, everyone on both teams participated in a workout.

That night, the Black team and the Red team met with Alison and they learned they would be competing against each other in the week's challenge. Alison then explained the teams would have to race 100 yards across a field and overcome obstacles along the way without ever touching the ground. If one player failed and happened to touch the ground, then he or she must return to the previous obstacle and complete it over again.

Both team captains Marci and Justin then were told they could decide where certain teammates would start along the path. Two people were required to start at the beginning and then would be joined by one person at 30 yards, another teammate at 50 yards, and one last person at the 70-yard mark. The first team to cross the finish line would win and receive $6,000 to split amongst themselves.

Marci also had to choose one person of her Black team to sit out the challenge because they had an extra member, and she chose to exclude her daughter Courtney Crozier, a 22-year-old student and restaurant manager from Valparaiso, IN.

The Black team ended up winning the challenge, securing their $6,000 prize to be split among the seven contestants.


The next day, the Red team training with Brett and Cara and the Black team training with Bob and Jillian then participated in their last chance workouts.

Later on that night, The Biggest Loser: Couples' fifth Red vs. Black weigh-in and tenth elimination weigh-in commenced. Alison explained that the team with the lowest weight-loss percentage would have to send one of their own players home, but the player who lost the most weight on the losing team would receive immunity. 

The Red team members were the first to step on the scale.

Justin started off the week weighing 262 pounds but dropped to 254 pounds after he lost eight pounds, and his friend Rulon Gardner, a 39-year-old gym owner and motivational speaker from Logan, UT, fell from 350 pounds to 342 pounds after shedding eight pounds as well.

Kaylee's father Moses Kinikini, a 47-year-old garage door installer from Shelley, ID, began the week weighing 317 and shed eight pounds, falling to 309 pounds, while Kaylee fell from 179 pounds to 174 pounds after losing five pounds.


In addition, Ken's son Austin Andrews, a 21-year-old radio board operator from Pasadena, CA, started off the week weighing 289 pounds and dropped to 283 pounds after he lost six pounds, while Ken managed to lose nine pounds as he dropped from 286 pounds to 277 pounds.

The Red team lost a total of 44 pounds and posted a combined 2.61% weight-loss percentage.

The Black team then stepped on the scale.

Marci started off the week weighing 167 pounds and dropped to 162 pounds after she lost five pounds, and Courtney lost a total of five pounds as well after she fell to 241 pounds from 246 pounds.

Irene Alvarado, a 26-year-old student from Portland, OR, fell from 185 pounds to 180 pounds after shedding five pounds, while Sarah lost a total of four pounds after she dropped from 194 pounds to 190 pounds.


Olivia began with week weighing 190 pounds but dropped to 188 pounds after she only lost two pounds, while Hannah also lost two pounds after she fell from 182 pounds to 180 pounds. Jennifer Jacobs, a 28-year-old digital media entrepreneur from Long Branch, NJ, dropped from 197 pounds to 196 pounds after shedding only one pound.

The Black team lost a total of 24 pounds and posted a combined 1.76% weight-loss percentage which wasn't enough, and as a result, they would then be forced to vote one of their own members out of the competition.

Alison revealed Marci had won immunity for her Black team and that no one could vote for her after she posted the highest weight-loss percentage out of everyone on the team, but she was upset because she was hoping and planning to sacrifice herself in order to enable all of the younger kids to stay on The Biggest Loser: Couples and continue losing weight on the ranch.

The Black team then joined Alison in the voting room and Hannah, Jen, Courtney, and Olivia all voted to oust Sarah from The Biggest Loser: Couples. Marci voted for Olivia and Sarah voted for Jen, but Sarah had received four votes, which was enough to constitute for her elimination.

In a post-elimination update, Sarah, who started The Biggest Loser: Couples weighing 261 pounds -- said she now weighs 169 pounds. She said she has loved pushing herself and has gained much more confidence. Sarah explained she can now take part in activities like rock climbing, which she could never do before losing weight, and sees the possibility of having children finally within her grasp.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski