'The Biggest Loser' ousts one contestant and sees another one quit

The Biggest Loser's thirteenth season eliminated Lauren Lee and saw contestant Joe Messina quit during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's third episode.


Lauren, a 26-year-old exercise physiologist from Poolesville, MD, became the fourth contestant eliminated from the competition's thirteenth season after her Red team lost the third week's weigh-in to the Black team -- which then forced the Red team's remaining contestants to vote off one of their own members.

"Being eliminated tonight was a surprise. I had no clue. I guess other people saw it differently than I did. Everybody, including [trainer Dolvett Quince] know that I'm an athlete, but I just don't see it yet. I still have obstacles to overcome, but the big obstacle is just believing in myself. I know that I can do it. I mean, I never knew that I could do a lot of things coming here and coming here, I proved to myself that I could. It's a great feeling," Lauren said following her ouster.

In addition, Joe, a 38-year-old truck driver from Auburn, NY, decided to leave the show because he claimed he couldn't bare how much he had been missing his family.

"My fiancee and my kids have been weighing heavily on me and it just kind of built up on me and my brother [Mike Messina] being eliminated kind of put the nail in the coffin, I guess. I just feel that I need to be with my family. As much as I want to be here, I want to be home more. I want to be with my kids," Joe explained.


The Biggest Loser's third thirteenth-season episode began with the competition's 16 remaining contestants comprised of two teams -- the Red team who trained with Dolvett, who returned to the show for his second season, and the Black team who worked under the guidance of veteran trainer Bob Harper -- meeting with The Biggest Loser host Alison Sweeney and learning they must compete in their first Temptation Challenge.

Before getting to the rules of the challenge, Alison told the contestants that each member of the Red team would face off against one member of the Black team at the upcoming weigh-in. The person out of each pair to win the weigh-in would earn one point for his or her team, and the team to earn the most points at the end of the weigh-in would win and avoid elimination. The losing team must vote to send one of their own members home.

The contestant to win the Temptation Challenge would receive a two-pound advantage on the scale which he or she could choose to keep to themselves or split up amongst his or her fellow teammates. The winner would also get the opportunity to control the matchups and select which contestants would face off against each other.

For the Temptation Challenge, Alison explained each team would get five minutes alone with a Chinese food buffet and the contestant to eat the most calories would win the challenge. If no one chose to eat or both teams consumed an equal amount of calories, there would be no two-pound advantage and each contestant would be forced to face off against their loved ones on the opposing team.

Cassandra Sturos, a 25-year-old in-home senior caregiver from Fowlerville, MI, ended up winning the Temptation Challenge after she decided to eat only two fortune cookies on behalf of her Black team.


Cassandra then had the power to pair the contestants up for the weigh-in face-off and she chose to put Roy Pickler, a 63-year-old self-employed Santa Claus from Middlebury, IN, and Emily Joy, a 29-year-old teacher from Huntersville, NC, together.

Jeremy Britt, a 22-year-old banker from Rockford, MI, and Lauren would square off, while Cassandra chose to match up Joe and Nancy Rajala, a 63-year-old retiree from Fowlerville, MI for the weigh-in. Isaac "Chism" Cornelison, a 19-year-old student from Magnolia, TX, and Kim Nielsen, a 38-year-old former professional wrestler from Roswell, GA, were put together.

Mark Cornelison, a 43-year-old youth pastor from Magnolia, TX, and Christine "Chris" Pickler, a 42-year-old who is self-employed from Middlebury, IN, were paired up, while Megan Stone, a 21-year-old student and support staffer for an organization that assists disabled adults from Dittmer, MO, and Allen "Buddy" Shuh, a 42-year-old pastor from Wayne, MI, would compete against each other.

Cassandra opted to have Gail Lee, a 57-year-old realtor from Poolesville, MD, and Kim "Kimmy" Stone, a 48-year-old registered nurse from Dittmer, MO, square off, and lastly, Cassandra opted to compete against Conda Britt, a 24-year-old nutrition health services technician from Rockford, MI.

Afterward, Joe decided he wanted to go home and quit the show because he was overwhelmed with how much he missed his fiancee and children. In addition, his brother Mike, a 41-year-old cook from Oakland, CA, had been eliminated the week prior.


Joe was the first person in The Biggest Loser history to quit the show without even weighing in for the week, and Bob was extremely disappointed in him. Bob said he didn't buy Joe's "excuse" in a season of "no excuses."

"He's gotta go with his heart, but I'm sad for people that could have maybe been in his spot that would have been able to be here longer," Mark said.

"I wish he would have waited until the weigh-in. We thought that him beating Nancy -- it was going to be an easy feat. For him to back out, and especially in the middle of the week, he kind of screwed us. I love Joe but I don't know. What's going to happen to our team now?" Megan explained.

Joe's leaving before the weigh-in meant that he technically forfeited and the Red team would automatically get one point -- allowing Nancy to win her matchup no matter how much weight she loses.

The Red and Black teams then met up with Alison again and learned they'd be competing in the week's challenge. With the help of their trainers, each team was required to compete in a water relay, pumping water and passing it to each other through a series of obstacles including a water wheel, a 10-foot wall and a watershoot. The first team to melt its large block of ice and get down to the prize frozen inside would win the challenge and the prize revealed.


Nancy sat out for the Red team since the Black team had one less member following Joe's exit. The challenge was extremely close and both Bob and Dolvett were barking out orders and offering motivation along the way. But in the end, the Red team won and got to video chat with their families as a result.

Mark decided to give his prize to Chism, Roy opted to give up the video chat for his wife Chris, and Lauren wanted her mother Gail to receive the opportunity.

Afterward, Bob traveled to Chicago, IL and paid a visit to the home of former Aqua team members Adrian Dortch, a 34-year-old music producer and community activist, and his sister Daphne Dortch, a 37-year-old paralegal and kids activity team member from Evanston, IL -- who got eliminated during the premiere episode but could return to the ranch if they could lose 50 pounds total in one month at home.

Bob worked out with the siblings because he really wanted them to be able to re-join the show, especially since Joe had given up his chance to be on The Biggest Loser ranch intentionally.

The Red and Black teams then participated in their last chance workouts with their given trainers.


Later on, The Biggest Loser's thirteenth-season's third elimination weigh-in commenced.

Alison reiterated the rules of the face-off in which a team would receive a point for winning a matchup and the team to earn the most points at the end would be safe from elimination, while the losing team must vote to send a teammate home. However, the person to post the highest weight-loss percentage on the losing team would receive immunity. In the case of a tie, the team to post the highest overall weight-loss percentage would win the weigh-in.

The Red team started off with one point due to Joe's early exit, and Cassandra revealed that she wanted to split her two-pound advantage between two women on her Black team. She gave one pound to Megan and the other pound to Gail.

Nancy was the first matchup to step on the scale, but since Joe was absent, her weight-loss percentage was irrelevant at that time. Her Red team had the one point regardless and Nancy learned she dropped from 207 to 205 pounds after losing two pounds -- a number Joe seemingly could have beaten with ease if he chose to stick around.

Red team member Buddy and Black team member Megan then weighed-in against each other. Buddy fell from 372 pounds to 363 pounds after shedding nine pounds, while Megan lost eight pounds after she dropped from 248 to 240 pounds. With Megan's one-pound advantage, she won her face-off, giving the Black team one point.

Kimmy and Gail squared off next. Kimmy shed three pounds after falling from 206 to 203 pounds, while Gail dropped from 308 to 302 pounds after she lost six pounds. Gail's victory gave the Black team another point, making it 2-1 Black.


Lauren and Jeremy were the next pair to step on the scale. Lauren dropped from 233 pounds to 230 pounds after she lost three pounds, while Jeremy shed 11 pounds after falling from 369 pounds to 358 pounds. Jeremy's win gave the Black team another point.

Roy and Emily then weighed-in against each other. Roy lost nine pounds after dropping from 287 pounds to 278 pounds, while Emily fell from 250 pounds to 244 pounds after she shed six pounds. Roy gave his Red team another point, making the tally 3-2.

It then became time for Red team member Mark to square off against Black team member Chris. Mark dropped from 274 pounds to 266 pounds after losing eight pounds, while Chris lost four pounds after falling from 226 pounds to 222 pounds. The Red team gained another point, resulting in a 3-3 outcome.

Kim and Chism then weighed-in. Kim fell from 236 pounds to 230 pounds after she lost six pounds, while Chism lost nine pounds after dropping from 341 pounds to 332 pounds. Chism's victory gave his Black team another point, making the score 4-3 Black.

Conda and Cassandra were the last opposing team members to step on the scale. If Conda won, the face-off would end in a tie. Conda dropped from 278 pounds to 275 pounds after losing three pounds, while Cassandra shed eight pounds after she fell from 220 pounds to 212 pounds. Cassandra's Black team won the weigh-in with a 5-3 outcome based on her weight-loss results.

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


In the case of a tie vote, the Black team could choose any person they wanted to go home on the Red team except for Roy.

Once in the voting room, the contestants revealed their votes and it was a close call. Nancy voted for Kim; Kim, Lauren and Roy voted for Nancy; and Conda, Buddy, Mark, and Kimmy voted to oust Lauren from The Biggest Loser's thirteenth season.

In a post-elimination update, Lauren, who started The Biggest Loser weighing 246 pounds, said she lost 53 pounds. She signed up for a half-marathon and wanted to finish in under three hours. Lauren was looking forward to getting back to the athlete she used to be, and she ended up accomplishing her goal of running the marathon under a certain time.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski