The Biggest Loser eliminated Jesse Atkins and Aaron Thompkins during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's eighth tenth-season episode.

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"I think I'm proud of myself that the day I'm eliminated from The Biggest Loser, I can say I feel good about what I did here, I feel good about the way I acted, and there are some people that might not be able to say that," Jesse said following his ouster. "I am sad I'm leaving but my sadness is overshadowed by the pride I feel for what I've done here -- The new Jesse faces problems -- the old one didn't."

"The biggest thing I've learned is that I am a strong man, and that I am a good man. And I realized that it's time for me to stand on my own two feet," Aaron added. I've always said, I'm doing it for my son... the thing that I finally started to get is that I need to do it for myself -- and doing it for myself -- that's showing my son a lot of love."

Jesse, a 28-year-old law clerk from St. Paul, MN, and Aaron, a 29-year-old graphic designer from Kent, OH, were voted out of the competition after they had finished as the team with the lowest weight-loss percentage at the week's weigh-in, which occurred after a shakeup in which the Blue and Black teams were dissolved and the contestants were split into new teams of two.

Brendan Donovan, a 32-year-old special education teacher from Boston, MA, won the right to determine the teams' rosters after he ate the most calories at a food challenge.

Brendan paired himself off with Patrick House, who he considered to be a strong competitor. He then put Aaron and Jesse together, followed by Alfredo "Frado" Dinten and Mark Pinhasovich, Lisa Mosley and Elizabeth Ruiz, and Ada Wong and Jessica Delfs.

Alfredo, a 43-year-old futures commodity trader from Staten Island, NY, started off the week weighing 294 pounds and lost 18 pounds.

Frado's partner Mark, a 31-year-old bartender and recruiter from East Brunswick, NJ, went from 329 pounds to 317, losing 12 pounds. The two lost a combined 30 pounds, posting a 4.82% weight-loss percentage at the weigh-in.   

Jesse and Aaron were the second team to weigh-in and lost a combined 20 pounds, posting a 2.94% weight-loss percentage.  Jesse lost 16 pounds and dropped his weight to 280 pounds from 296, however Aaron wasn't as fortunate and only went from 384 pounds to 380, a four-pound loss.

The next team to step on the scale was Lisa, a 31-year-old sales representative from Norman, OK, and Elizabeth, a 31-year-old medical assistant from Lawrence, MA.

Lisa and Elizabeth lost eight pounds each, with Lisa dropping from 242 to 234 pounds and Elizabeth slimming down to 205 pounds from 213. However their 16-pound loss only gave them a 3.52% weight-loss percentage and left them five pounds short of ensuring they would finish above the yellow weigh-in line that would determine which two teams would be danger of elimination.

Patrick, a 28-year-old sales representative from Vicksburg, MS, and Brendan lost a total of 37 pounds as a team, posting a 5.89% weight-loss percentage. Patrick started off the week weighing 330 pounds and lost 19 pounds while Brendan lost 18 pounds and dropped from 298 to 280 pounds.  

Ada, a 27-year-old high-tech company project coordinator from San Francisco, CA, and Jessica, a 27-year-old professional bridal consultant from Tucson, AZ, were the final team to step on the scale and needed to lose more than 15 pounds to be safe from elimination.

Ada lost six pounds, dropping from 204 to 198 pounds, however Jessica's weight-loss was the surprise of the night. She doubled Ada's weight-loss by losing 12 pounds -- putting to rest Ada's fears that she would be eliminated because she hadn't been paired up with one of the competition's heavier male contestants.

The women lost a total of 18 pounds and posted a 4.05% weight-loss percentage -- which Ada called "a blessing in disguise."  

The results left Lisa and Elizabeth and Jesse and Aaron below the yellow line and the three other teams in the position to decide which of the two pairs would be sent home from The Biggest Loser ranch.
 
After deliberating among themselves, the five teams met with The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney and revealed their elimination votes. Jessica and Ada voted for Lisa and Elizabeth, while Mark and Frado and Brendan and Patrick voted for Aaron and Jesse.

Jesse said he took Patrick's decision to vote for him very personally given he had come to consider Patrick one of his best friends and Patrick had previously claimed the show's prize money wasn't worth losing a friendship.

During the episode, all five teams also participated in a challenge in which they had to stack sugar cubes one by one until they created a five-foot tall tower. As the winning team, Jessica and Ada received a week-long trip for four to The Biggest Loser Resort, a weight-loss facility.

During a live segment following the end of the episode, The Biggest Loser trainer Bob Harper paid a personal visit to Aaron's house in Warren, Ohio, where Aaron and Jesse were both ready to reveal their drastic weight-loss transformations.   

Aaron said he now weighs 230 pounds and has made major adjustments to his lifestyle. He said avoiding fast food and eating better has been difficult, especially without the people on the ranch pushing him. 

Jesse said he now weighs 250 pounds, and has taken the lessons he learned from the trainers on the ranch to live healthily at home, such as eating a good breakfast and going for a daily jog. 

"Its not about money, it's not about winning anything. It's about getting my life back... For me, the most important day in my near future is not the day of the finale anymore, it's after the finale... I'm on my way to the life I've wanted for so long," Jesse said."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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