'The Biggest Loser' sends Courtney Rainville home from the ranch

The Biggest Loser's twelfth season eliminated Courtney Rainville during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's fifth episode.


Courtney, a 24-year-old internet marketing specialist from Scottsdale, AZ, became the fifth contestant ousted from the competition's twelfth season after her Red team lost the fifth 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.

"The fact that I'm going home in Week 5, it's bitter but at the same time, I made it to Week 5. I think the person that came here was not just overweight but scared, insecure, doubted herself a lot. And I think the person leaving here tonight has found herself a little bit more, found that inner confidence, found that inner strength, found that inner voice, and I'm actually starting to be happy with myself. I've lost 39 pounds," Courtney said following her ouster.

"I just know that I'm going to do so well and I'm going to shock the heck out of a lot of people."

The Biggest Loser's fifth twelfth-season episode began following the elimination of Mike "Coach" Danley, a 62-year-old high school teacher and football coach from Spencerville, IN, after the competition's Week 4 weigh-in.


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

Alison explained to the teams that one contestant would get to go home for the entire week with his or her trainer and receive immunity at the upcoming weigh-in. After all the contestants got excited about the potential opportunity and hoped they would win, they learned of a twist which deflated their spirits.

The contestant to spend the week at home would be the only weight that would count for his or her entire team at the weigh-in at the end of the week. If the person did not hold up over the course of the week and lose enough weight to surpass the total weight-loss percentages of the other two teams, then that contestant's team would have vote off one of their own members.

The challenge was a simple game of luck and required each team member to place a card with their name and hometown on it into a spot on a giant board. The contestants put their cards on the board one at a time in the order of whom had posted the highest total weight-loss percentage so far this season to the lowest. Once a chip fell from the top of the board to the bottom and landed on a card, the person featured on the card would win and get sent home.

Black team member Sunny Sinclair, a 41-year-old fifth grade teacher from Frisco, TX, ended up winning the challenge. She was excited to go home, but Bob made it clear that the prize was not going to be a vacation and promised Sunny he would work her into the ground to save the fate of her team. 


After all three teams worked out with their trainers, and while Sunny was hard at work at home with Bob coaching her, the teams met with Alison again and learned they'd be competing in another challenge.

Alison explained each person would be given two glasses of which they needed to fill with orange soda. Once they filled their glasses, the team members were required to race across a maze and fill a cylinder on the other side with whatever liquid survived the trip. The first team to fill its cylinder to the line would win the challenge.

The Blue team, since it only had two members in comparison to the Black and Red teams which were each comprised of four people, had to fill their cylinder only half the distance of the other team's to ensure the game was fair.

Each member on the winning team would receive the opportunity to send one person they knew from home to The Biggest Loser ranch for two weeks to workout, eat well and get healthy for free. The Red team ended up winning the challenge and they were thrilled they could help a loved one out with their own weight-loss journeys.

The three teams, along with Sunny and Bob who were still in Texas, then participated in their last chance workouts.


Later on, The Biggest Loser's fifth 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, reminding everyone that Sunny's weight would be the only weight to count for the Black team.

Alison said the person who achieved the highest weight-loss percentage on the losing team would receive immunity -- although Sunny had already received immunity for her Black team if they had to come down to a vote -- but all the team's contestants must then vote off one of its other members.

Dolvett's Red team was the first team to weigh-in and Vencent "Vinny" Hickerson, a 27-year-old songwriter and entertainer from Nashville, TN, started it off. Vinny shed 10 pounds after falling from 382 pounds to 372 pounds.

Jessica Limpert, a 26-year-old travel nurse from San Francisco, CA, dropped from 219 pounds to 213 pounds after losing six pounds, while Ramone Medeiros, a 27-year-old tattoo artist from Florence, CO, lost seven pounds after dropping from 311 pounds to 304 pounds. Courtney lost six pounds over the course of the week and fell from 237 pounds to 231 pounds.


Dolvett's Red team lost a total of 29 pounds and posted a 2.52% weight-loss percentage.

It was then time for Anna's Blue team to weigh-in and Bonnie Griffin, a 63-year-old retired payroll supervisor from Picayune, MS, was the first one to step on the scale. She shed four pounds after falling from 233 pounds to 229 pounds.

The Blue team's only other member Rebecca "Becky" Comet, a 51-year-old math teacher from Benton, AR, then weighed-in and learned she lost eight pounds after dropping from 212 pounds to 204 pounds.

Anna's Blue team lost a total of 12 pounds and posted a 2.07% weight-loss percentage.

Bob's Black team was the last team to weigh-in and everyone's fate was in Sunny's hands.


John Rhode, a 40-year-old special education teacher and football coach from Mesa, AZ, dropped from 366 pounds to 354 pounds after shedding 12 pounds, while Jennifer Rumple, a 39-year-old television producer from Alameda, CA, lost eight pounds after falling from 282 pounds to 274 pounds.

Joe Mitchell, a 46-year-old home health therapist from Knoxville, TN, then stepped on the scale and lost a total of seven pounds over the course of the week. He fell from 301 to 294 pounds, while Antone Davis, a 44-year-old restaurant manager and former NFL player from Knoxville, TN, shed four pounds after falling from 381 pounds to 377 pounds.

Sunny ended up shocking her team, as she lost 14 pounds at home with Bob's help. She dropped from 241 pounds to 227 pounds, posting the second highest percentage of weight loss amongst all the contestants. Her team was thrilled with how she had exceeded their expectations, and she ended up posting a 5.81% weight-loss percentage that represented her whole team.

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

The remaining Red team members, Vinny, Ramone and Courtney, then were given time to deliberate and the three contestants voiced how none of them were ready to go home yet.

Ramone said he was sick of failing and had so much more to do, Vinny wanted to get rid of his diabetes and couldn't go back to his normal lifestyle with confidence, and Courtney explained she didn't have the knowledge or training to do the process alone.


Once in the voting room, the Red team members revealed their votes. Jessica, Vinny and Ramone all cast their votes for Courtney to oust her from The Biggest Loser competition, while she voted for Vinny.

In a post-elimination update, Courtney, who started The Biggest Loser weighing 270 pounds, said she currently weighs 205 pounds. She explained how she was eating nutritious meals all of the time and then told her sister about the prize her team had won at the previous competition. Courtney explained how she would receive an all-expenses paid trip to The Biggest Loser ranch for two weeks. Her sister cried tears of joy and couldn't wait to begin her own weight-loss transformation.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski