'The Biggest Loser' eliminates contestant Patrick Ferrari

The Biggest Loser's twelfth season eliminated Patrick Ferrari during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's third episode.


Patrick, a 26-year-old mental health adult foster care worker from Albany, OR, became the third contestant ousted from the competition's twelfth season after his Red team lost the third week's weigh-in by posting a lower total weight-loss percentage than the Black and Blue teams -- which then forced the Red team contestants to vote off one of their own members.

"I didn't realize when I came here how mentally weak I was. In Week 1, I quickly found out that I mentally didn't have what it took to be an athlete. I didn't believe in myself. I said, 'I can't do this. I'm not able to do that,' but I do have a lot more self-confidence now in who I am and my ability," Patrick said following his ouster.

"I know that I still have a huge journey ahead of me, but I'm excited to see that. When you say, 'I can't do that,' realize your full potential and that you can keep growing."

The Biggest Loser's third twelfth-season episode began following the elimination of John "Johnny" Forger, a 65-year-old realty company owner from Canton, MA, after the competition's Week 2 weigh-in.


The next day, The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney met with the three teams divided by their ages and trainers -- veteran trainer Bob Harper worked with the Black team which consisted of contestants between the ages of 31 and 49, new trainer Anna Kournikova trained with the Blue team comprised of members over the age of 50 and new trainer Dolvett Quince worked with the youngest group all under the age of 30 on the Red team -- and revealed the upcoming week would be NFL week and they'd be competing in a challenge. 

Alison explained the contestants would be competing as individuals and the challenge would require them to run across a football field to grab a football, hustle back to where lifesize cardboard images of each player stood on the field with a large hole cut out in each of their stomachs, and attempt to throw the football inside the target of an opponent's cardboard replica.

Once a football was successfully thrown through the hole of a given contestant's target, the person represented on the cardboard cutout would be out of the game. The last player's cardboard replica standing would win the challenge receive $5,000 dollars.

Before the challenge commenced, the three teams of contestants learned they'd also be competing against three NFL stars -- Clay Matthews, Tony Gonzalez and Drew Brees. The Biggest Loser contestants were instructed to throw their footballs from the three-yard line, while Clay was required to throw from the five-yard line, Tony needed to be 10 yards away and Drew was instructed to throw from the 15-yard line to make the challenge fair.

In addition, Alison told the teams that the contestant to post the highest total percentage of weight-loss for the whole week would receive a trip for two to the upcoming Super Bowl in Indianapolis, IN.


The challenge came down to all the Red team members, who were the youngest and arguably most agile and energetic contestants on the field. They eventually had to turn on each other and Courtney Rainville, a 24-year-old internet marketing specialist from Scottsdale, AZ, and Vencent "Vinny" Hickerson, a 27-year-old songwriter and entertainer from Nashville, TN, duked it out for the win.

Courtney ended up taking her time throwing her final football and landed it in Vinny's target, winning the challenge and the prize money.

Later on, the Red, Blue and Black teams met with Alison again and their trainers in the gym. They learned they would be competing in another challenge in which they'd be working as teams with their given trainers rather than as individuals. The challenge required each team to work out as hard as they possibly could for four quarters, which was the equivalent of an hour with 15-minute intervals.

The contestants, with the help of either Bob, Anna and Dolvett, had to burn as many calories as they could within each quarter. The team with the highest amount of calories burned on average after all four quarters were up would win the challenge and a spa day.

Anna's Blue team ended up burning 764 calories on average, Dolvett's Red team burned 952 calories, and Bob's Black team burned 1,171 calories on average. The Black team won the challenge, but they decided to forego their prize of spending a day at the spa because they felt they didn't come to the ranch for pleasure. They came to work hard, lose weight and become healthy again.


Afterward, the teams participated in their last chance workouts and not only trained with their usual trainers, but they each got to work with an additional NFL star. Shawne Merriman worked out with the Black team, Eric Dickerson trained with the Blue team, and Tim Tebow helped out and gave tips to the Red team.

That night, The Biggest Loser's third twelfth-season elimination weigh-in commenced.

Alison explained the team with the lowest weight-loss percentage would lose the weigh-in and be put up for elimination. She said the person who achieved the highest weight-loss percentage on the losing team would receive immunity, but all the team's contestants must then vote off one of its other members.

Courtney was the first member on Dolvett's Red team to step on the scale. She started off the week weighing 247 pounds and dropped to 240 pounds after she lost seven pounds and posted a 2.83% weight-loss percentage.

Vinny lost 10 pounds and posted a 2.50% weight-loss percentage after dropping from 400 to 390 pounds, while Ramone Medeiros, a 27-year-old tattoo artist from Florence, CO, shed seven pounds and posted a 2.13% weight-loss percentage after falling from 329 to 322 pounds.


Patrick then weighed-in on behalf of Dolvett's team and fell from 361 pounds to 350 pounds after he lost 11 pounds and posted a 3.05% weight-loss percentage, while Jessica Limpert, a 26-year-old travel nurse from San Francisco, CA, dropped from 232 pounds to 221 pounds after she shed 11 pounds and posted a 4.74% weight-loss percentage. 

Dolvett's Red team lost a total of 46 pounds and posted a 2.93% weight-loss percentage.

It was then time for Bob's Black team to weigh-in, and Antone Davis, a 44-year-old restaurant manager and former NFL player from Knoxville, TN, stepped on the scale and lost a total of 16 pounds. He fell from 405 to 389 pounds and posted a 3.95% weight-loss percentage.

Sunny Sinclair, a 41-year-old fifth grade teacher from Frisco, TX, started off the week weighing 255 pounds and dropped to 245 pounds, losing 10 pounds and posting a 3.92% weight-loss percentage.

Joe Mitchell, a 46-year-old home health therapist from Knoxville, TN, was next to step on the scale and shed 17 pounds after falling from 324 to 307 pounds. Joe posted a 5.25% weight-loss percentage and moved into the lead for claiming the Super Bowl tickets.


Jennifer Rumple, a 39-year-old television producer from Alameda, CA, dropped from 305 to 289 pounds after losing 16 pounds and posting a 5.25% weight-loss percentage -- the same number as Joe, except he beat her after extending the number out into the thousandths decimal place. 

John Rhode, a 40-year-old special education teacher and football coach from Mesa, AZ, then weighed-in and dropped from 393 pounds to 375 pounds after shedding 18 pounds and posting a 4.58% weight-loss percentage. 

Bob's Black team lost a total of 77 pounds and posted a 4.58% weight-loss percentage.

Anna's Blue team was the last team to weigh-in.

Bonnie Griffin, a 63-year-old retired payroll supervisor from Picayune, MS, lost seven pounds after she fell from 247 to 240 pounds, posting a 2.83% weight-loss percentage.

Rebecca "Becky" Comet, a 51-year-old math teacher from Benton, AR, fell from 223 pounds to 214 pounds, losing nine pounds over the course of the week and posting a 4.04% weight-loss percentage.


Mike Danley, a 62-year-old high school teacher and football coach from Spencerville, IN, then stepped on the scale and shed 17 pounds after dropping from 290 pounds to 273 pounds. He posted a 5.86% weight-loss percentage, the highest percentage of any contestant at the weigh-in, and happily claimed the two Super Bowl tickets. 
 
The Blue team lost a total of 33 pounds and posted a 4.34% weight-loss percentage, making them safe from elimination for the first time yet this season. 

Alison then announced Dolvett's Red team would face elimination, but Jessica received immunity for posting the highest weight-loss percentage on her team.  

All the Red team contestants were then given time to deliberate and no one was ready to go home. The team members up for discussion insisted they needed to stay on the ranch in order to continue their weight-loss journeys successfully.

Courtney claimed she was not ready emotionally to lose weight at home because she still lacked the confidence she needed in herself, while Ramone and Vinny had the  most health issues and expressed how they needed professional training guidance.

Patrick then decided to take one for the team and asked everyone to write his name down because he believed the other contestants were worse off than him and needed the help more than he did. Although he wasn't ready to leave the ranch either, he felt he was the most secure in his abilities to keep up with his progress at home.

The contestants then revealed their votes. Courtney, Jessica and Ramone all voted for Patrick, while only Patrick and Vinny voted for Courtney.


In a post-elimination update, Patrick, who started The Biggest Loser weighing 387 pounds, said he currently weighs 296 pounds. He said his wife was his teammate and he was able to pass the physical endurance test for police officers, which he once had failed when he was more overweight.

He completed the course in five minutes and 11 seconds when he had five minutes and 30 seconds to finish it, and Patrick said he was thrilled to have gotten one step closer to his goal of becoming a police officer.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski