'The Biggest Loser' eliminates Craig Arrington, brings Ruben Studdard back due to Jillian Michaels' rule violation

The Biggest Loser eliminated Craig Arrington and revealed Ruben Studdard will unexpectedly return to the show during Tuesday night's fifth broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's fifteenth-season. 


Craig, a 30-year-old pharmaceutical company warehouse supervisor from Wilson, NC, was automatically ousted after his White Team lost the season's fifth elimination weigh-in.

The White Team was given a four-pound disadvantage as a consequence for their trainer Jillian Michaels violating the show's rules by giving them caffeine supplements. Craig fell below the red line by posting the lowest weight-loss percentage of all the team's members. Jillian had already used her one "trainer's save" of the season in Week 1 on Craig, so his elimination could not be prevented again.

"When I arrived on the ranch, I weighed 385 pounds. Now I weigh 336 pounds. I've lost 49 pounds total. I think about the beginning in Week 1 and getting the save from Jillian, and it bought me an extra four weeks. She saw something in me that I didn't know I had. That's all I needed, just to have that little push," Craig said following his ouster.

"Some of the moments I will never forget. I learned how to swim on the ranch. It was in me, but I never took the time to find it. It's all in [my mind], and I finally have it now. I think about what I want to do when I get home, and I want to visit my father. I want to visit his grave site and thank him for his motivation. It really drove me through this whole process. I've been given the strength to do anything, and that right now, is to lose weight and be there for my children and my wife. That's a different Craig. I didn't leave anything here and that's a great feeling."


In addition, Ruben, the 35-year-old former second-season American Idol winner from Birmingham, AL, was allowed to re-enter the competition. Because Jillian broke the supplement rule, The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney announced last week's weigh-in results were invalid since the White Team could've had an advantage on the scale. Therefore, Ruben being sent home was unfair and he was welcomed back.

The Biggest Loser's fifteenth-season fifth episode began with Alison introducing the contestants to Sam Kass, the White House Senior Policy Advisor on Nutrition. The White Team, trainer Bob Harper's Blue Team, and trainer Dolvett Quince's Red Team then participated in a cooking challenge.

For the challenge, each team had to prove they could make healthy food for themselves and their kids. The judges were Alison, Sam and three children who appeared on the last season of The Biggest Loser: Lindsay Bravo, Noah "Biingo" Gray and Sanjana "Sunny" Chandrasekar.

The teams were given 30 minutes to pick their ingredients and prepare a dish. They were judged on taste, creativity and nutrition of their dish. The winning team's members would each receive a year's worth of produce groceries worth $5,000.

The Red Team labeled their dish "tapas around the world." The White Team cooked up a "ranch living quesadilla," and the Blue Team went with a "backyard quesadilla." In the end, the Blue Team won.


After all the contestants worked out, they arrived for the season's fifth elimination weigh-in. It had been two weeks since the contestants last stepped on the scale.

Alison made the announcement Jillian had previously given her team caffeine pills without the permission of the show's medical staff. Because of the rule violation, not only were Jillian's four team members penalized with a one-pound disadvantage each, the Blue Team was also given immunity at the weigh-in considering they had won immunity the week when Ruben went home.

As a result, the weigh-in elimination would either come down to the White Team or Red Team. Ruben wasn't present at the weigh-in although it was revealed he would be coming back to compete again.

"I stand by my opinion. A caffeine supplement is significantly healthier than unlimited amounts of coffee. My only regret is that my team, they are the ones suffering the consequences of my professional opinion," Jillian declared.

Alison then explained there would be a red line, and the person to fall below it on the losing team would automatically be ousted.


The Blue Team weighed-in first.

Bobby Saleem, a 28-year-old attorney from Chicago, IL, dropped from 317 to 298 pounds, losing 19 pounds. Holley Mangold, a 24-year-old Olympic weightlifter and caterer from Columbus, OH, dropped from 315 to 296 pounds, losing 19 pounds as well.

Hap Holmstead, a 26-year-old sales consultant and entrepreneur from Pleasant Grove, UT, lost 15 pounds after going from 363 to 348 pounds. Chelsea Arthurs, a 28-year-old clinical research professional and event planner from Raleigh, NC, shed 13 pounds and fell from 215 to 202 pounds. Matt Hooper, a 38-year-old retail manager from Georgetown, MA, dropped from 315 to 294 pounds and therefore lost 21 pounds.

The Blue Team collectively lost 87 pounds and posted a total weight-loss percentage of 5.70%. Regardless of the numbers they posted, however, the team was safe.

The White Team was next to weigh-in.


Craig shed 14 pounds, dropping from 350 to 336 pounds. Marie Pearl, a 30-year-old senior staff accountant at a community college from Springfield, MO, fell from 225 to 213 pounds and shed 12 pounds.

Jay Sheets, a 38-year-old food company marketing associate from Farmington, MO, dropped from 244 to 231 pounds, losing 13 pounds. Tumi Oguntala, a 41-year-old brand strategist from Clifton Park, NY, lost 13 pounds after falling from 280 to 267 pounds.

The White Team lost a total of 52 pounds altogether, but with their four-pound disadvantage taken into account, they only posted a 4.37% weight-loss percentage.

Lastly, the Red Team weighed-in.

David Brown, a 43-year-old construction company project manager and phone company social commerce leader from Edmond, OK, lost 13 pounds and dropped from 347 to 334 pounds. Jennifer Messer, a 42-year-old clerk and bookkeeper from Abingdon, VA, lost 12 pounds after falling from 236 to 224 pounds. 


Tanya Winfield, a 41-year-old restaurant franchise chief operating officer from Plainfield, IL, dropped from 239 to 224 pounds, losing 15 pounds. Rachel Frederickson, a 24-year-old voice-over artist from Los Angeles, CA, went from 216 to 198 pounds, losing a whopping 18 pounds.

The Red Team lost a total of 58 pounds and posted a 5.59% weight-loss percentage. As a result, the White Team lost the weigh-in. However, the four-pound penalty had nothing to do with why the White Team finished in last place. If they did not have the penalty, they would've posted a 4.73% weight-loss percentage.

Craig fell below the red line with his 4.00% weight-loss percentage.

"Me going home tonight is the beginning. Don't feel bad about it. Everybody's got a time. Tonight's my time," Craig said on his way out.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski