'The Biggest Loser: Families' eliminates Adam and Stacey Capers

Adam and Stacey Capers' tireless work ethic in the gym ended up being the catalyst for their dismissal on the first episode of The Biggest Loser: Families, which premiered last night on NBC.


The Gainesville, VA husband and wife -- who also work together in the same office -- were eliminated from the competition after only achieving a 4.99% drop in net weight after the first week of the show's workout program. Stacey, a 33-year-old contract pricing analyst, was only able to drop nine pounds from original 221 lb. weight, while Adam, a 39-year-old contracts manager, lost 19 lbs from his initial weigh-in weight of 340 lbs.

"We wish everybody, you know, the best of luck in their effort to lose weight," said Adam, who continued his support for all the teams, even the Brown, Red, and Gray teams who voted for dismissal. "We're gonna be at home, but we're gonna be with you guys, you can count on that man."

While Stacey lost the least amount of anyone in the competition's first week, she was nonetheless impressed with her brief performance in the competition and credited it with bringing her closer to Adam.

"I've struggled all of my life trying to lose weight, and to lose nine pounds in one week... I can't tell you how great that feels and I think just in the short amount of time [on the show] it strengthened our relationship," an emotional Stacey said following the elimination. "I learned how determined Adam is, how strong he is, how much he really loves me. I mean he's really just a great guy."


The Biggest Loser: Families premiere broadcast began with the 16 contestants -- which were comprised of four married couples and four parent-child teams -- arriving at the secluded The Biggest Loser Ranch and being greeted by the show's host Alison Sweeney.

Sweeney lead them into the newly revamped gym -- which featured new equipment and nearly double the space of any previous The Biggest Loser workout area -- and split them up into two groups to begin their quests for the $250,000 grand prize.

The contestants were split amongst the two trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels, with Bob taking on the married teams while Jillian assumed control of the parent-children teams.

"So it seems we have a little social experiment going on here. Is blood thicker than true love?" Alison said with a smirk.

After the initial weigh-ins -- in which each team's net weight was taken -- the teams joined the trainers and began their first workout.


"All I can think about is that it's my job with these husband and wives to make sure they don't someday end up on the other team with their kids," said Bob of his goals for the competition.

While Orange team member and 31-year-old chef Ed Brantley struggled through much of the initial workout, forcing his wife Heba Salama to continually encourage him to not stop his routine, it was 51-year-old Cleveland, OH police sergeant and Yellow team member Jerry Skeabeck who suffered the most. After feeling numbness in his back and pain in his knee, the 380 lb. father fell off of the treadmill and had to be attended to by medical staff as Coleen Skeaback, his 23-year-old daughter, looked on.

After being cleared to go back on the treadmill, Jillian angrily screamed at Jerry -- along with the rest of her teams -- that "unless you faint, puke or die, keep walking!!"

However, after later being told by doctors that Jerry would only be cleared to work out for thirty minutes each day -- an order that had never been levied on a contestant before in the show -- Jillian admitted that while she had initially been upset that his weaknesses could eventually remove his daughter from the competition as well, she also was somewhat saddened and eager to help him get healthier.

"I just hope that powers beyond my control keep him in this game longer," she said.


The following day, the teams were lead in 100-degree heat to a mountain surrounded by difficult terrain. After being told by Alison that "nothing comes easy," the teams watched as eight crop-dusters dropped banners with seven rewards -- a phone call home, two days of luxury in one team's room, a 24-hour visit home, a $5,000 bonus, an extra vote at elimination, 24-hours alone with a trainer, and immunity -- and one penalty -- an additional two pounds added on to one team's final weigh in for the week -- into the terrain.

Each team, minus Jerry and 42-year-old Gray team member Tom Desrochers Sr., who could not participate for medical reasons, were told to trek through one mile of the rough terrain towards the fallen banners. The first team to each banner received the award, or penalty, for that week.

Going on without her father, Coleen was able to find the immunity banner, ensuring that she and Ed would have at least one more week in the competition.

"It was so important for me to get immunity in this challenge," she exclaimed. "The longer we're here, the easier it becomes for my dad. I know we need this for the rest of our lives and I'm gonna do everything I can to help him out."

The other prizes were filled out following Coleen's trek, with Green winning two days of luxury, Orange winning the money, Gray getting the extra elimination vote, Pink getting a phone call, Purple getting private time with he trainer, and Red getting the 24-hour visit home.


Because 37-year-old Brown team member Vicky Vilcan trailed the other groups many times and complained of difficulty breathing, she and 36-year-old husband Brady were saddled with the two pound penalty.

After going back to the house, each team was taught by their trainer how to use computers located near the dining room to log their meals in order to track the calories burned versus the calories ingested by each competitor throughout the day.

Each team also had a private meeting with the show's doctor, Dr. Robert Huizenga, who explained the consequences of obesity and revealed the extent of the damage done to each contestants body by telling them the biological age of their organs versus their actual age.

"It's not a pretty picture unfortunately," said the doctor, who revealed that some contestant's biological ages were over twenty-years older than their birth age.

Following a "last chance workout," the teams were lead to their first weigh in.


Since they had already earned immunity for the week, Yellow team members Jerry and Coleen were the first team to weigh-in. Jerry found out he had lost 17 lbs and while Coleen learned she'd lost 10 lbs -- numbers that surprised both of them.

"Unbelievable. I'm just so tickled right now. I'm so excited," exclaimed Jerry after raising his arms to the cheers of the other contestants.

"I'm so happy. I just want him to be healthy so badly. that’s a nice number" added Coleen.

Even with the assessed two pound penalty from the challenge, the Brown team easily had the best week with Brady (28 lbs.) and Vicky (19 lbs.) losing the most weight while also having the highest weight loss percentage in 7.67%

Red team couple Amy Parham (16 lbs.) and Phil Parham (23 lbs.) followed with 6.96%

Purple team members Shellay Cremen (12 lbs.) and her daughter Amy Cremen (17 lbs.) were next with 6.37%.


Gray team members, Tom (24 lbs.) and his son Tom "L. T." Desrochers Jr. (18 lbs.), followed with 6.26%.

The Pink team, made up of Renee Wilson (14 lbs) and her daughter Michelle Aguilar (17 lbs.) netted a 6.09% loss.

Orange team couple Ed (17 lbs.) and Heba (12 lbs.) net a 4.61% weight loss percentage, the lowest among the group, and sent them into the bottom two with the Green team.

After one hour for the teams not selected to the bottom two to decide on who to eliminate, the first three teams asked for their vote chose for the Green team's ousting.

Citing Adam and Stacey's work ethic in the gym, and admitting that they presented tougher competition than the Orange team would as the show progressed, Vicky regrettably chose Green team, and added that she hoped her family could still remain friends with them.

While understanding of each team's position, both Adam and Stacey said that they were determined to prove that they were indeed the strongest team and promised to keep working on losing weight following their dismissal.


In an update that aired at the end of the show, the couple had proven to make good on their promise, as Adam said he had dropped his weight to 286 lbs. while Stacey excitedly said that she was now at 175 lbs. and excited to buy a new dress for the show's finale.






About The Author: John Bracchitta