'The Biggest Loser' votes contestant Mike Messina off the ranch

The Biggest Loser's thirteenth season eliminated Mike Messina during Tuesday night's broadcast of the NBC reality weight-loss competition's second episode.


Mike, a 41-year-old cook from Oakland, CA, became the second contestant ousted from the competition's thirteenth season after his Red team lost the second week's weigh-in by posting a lower total weight-loss percentage than the Black team -- which then forced the Red team's remaining contestants to vote off one of their own members.
 
"When I walked onto the ranch, I weighed 358 pounds. I'm leaving the ranch at 338 pounds. Even though it's only been two weeks, I've learned how to fight harder than I knew I was capable of fighting and to work out harder than I thought my body could handle and that I could live without nicotine. I've learned that in order to fix [my body], I have to fix [my mind]. I'm leaving now optimistic that I'm going to go home and finish what I started here. If I can do that on my own, then I can give people hope that anything's possible," Mike said following his ouster.
 
The Biggest Loser's second thirteenth-season episode began with the competition's 17 contestants comprised of two teams -- the Red team who trained with previously new trainer Dolvett Quince, 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 the person to post the highest percentage of weight-loss on the winning team at the upcoming weigh-in would be able to give immunity to any one person of their choice on the losing team.

Alison then asked each team to choose two leaders to represent them without explaining anything further. Emily Joy, a 29-year-old teacher from Huntersville, NC, and Joe Messina, a 38-year-old truck driver from Auburn, NY, opted to represent their Black team, while Kim "Kimmy" Stone, a 48-year-old registered nurse from Dittmer, MO, and Kim Nielsen, a 38-year-old former professional wrestler from Roswell, GA, volunteered themselves on behalf of the Red team.

Alison then brought them into a room which featured a poker table and many chips. She instructed them to each place a bid on what they thought their team's percentage of weight-loss would be at the week's weigh-in. The chips represented what their bid would be, and each individual chip stood for a tenth of a percent.

The team with the highest bid would win, and if that team hit the number they bid on at the weigh-in, they'd receive a five-pound advantage on the scale. However, if that team failed to meet the mark of their proposed bid, they must hand that five-pound advantage over to the other team. Kim and Kimmy got to bid first because their Red team had won the prior week's weigh-in.


Kim and Kimmy bet their Red team as a whole would post at least a 3.8% weight-loss percentage at the weigh-in, which would be the equivalent of 10.5 pounds per person and 94 pounds total. The Black team members Joe and Emily, believing the bid Kim and Kimmy had placed was extremely high and unrealistic, folded as a result and chose not to raise the bid against them.

Alison, also seemingly a little surprised over the Red team's bold move, revealed that the average The Biggest Loser weight-loss in Week 2 was only 2% percent. However, that didn't seem to break Kim and Kimmy's spirit.

Afterward, The Biggest Loser physician Dr. Rob Huizenga came to speak with brothers Joe and Mike about their weight-loss situation. The two men had lived 3,000 miles apart but were only a couple of pounds apart, mirroring their father's health. Joe had pre-diabetes and was at a dangerous level of sleep apnea, while Mike had gained 50 pounds in one summer and a smoking addiction when he was only 12 years old because of his father's influence.

Mike was also addicted to tobacco, and Dr. Huizenga pushed the fact that his father, whom Mike admitted he wanted to be just like, had passed away at age 51 from an obesity-related disease, colon cancer. 

Later on, The Biggest Loser nutritionist Rachel Beller met with the contestants and took them grocery shopping to teach them how to pick out healthier food options.


The contestants then met with Alison again and learned they'd be competing in the week's challenge and the first Red team vs. Black team challenge. The challenge required each team to work together to turn an anchor wheel and pull in 24 puzzle pieces. The first team to solve the puzzle and hoist their puzzle up would win, and all of its members would receive six months of The Biggest Loser meal plan.

The Red team selected Nancy Rajala, a 63-year-old retiree from Fowlerville, MI, to sit out because they had one extra member. Although the competition was very close, the Black team ended up winning by one second. 
 
The episode also showed Beller paying 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 lost 50 pounds in one month.

Beller attempted to motivate the siblings to really get on their weight-loss transformation and taught them how to make healthy meals without losing their flavor.

The Red and Black teams then participated in their last chance workouts with their given trainers and the competition between Bob and Dolvett was becoming increasingly more obvious.

"My God. It's like I just look at all my workouts that he does. It's like he's watched every single season of mine. He just does all my sh-t and it drives me nuts," Bob said.


"I'm here to help my team. I'm doing everything I can to help them get a good workout. I don't think Bob has his exercises trademarked," Dolvett explained.

Later on, The Biggest Loser's thirteenth-season's second 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. She said the person who achieved the highest weight-loss percentage on the losing team would receive immunity, but another player would as well. The person to post the highest weight-loss percentage on the winning team could select one person on the losing team to be safe, so besides the two players with immunity, the losing team's contestants must then vote off one of its other members.

In addition, the Red team needed to lose 94 pounds based on the bid they had made earlier in order to receive the five-pound advantage. If they did not reach that goal number, the Black team would win the five-pound advantage.

Dolvett's Red team weighed-in first and Kim was the first member to step on the scale. She started off the week weighing 239 pounds and dropped to 236 pounds after she lost three pounds.


Kimmy fell from 210 pounds to 206 pounds after she shed four pounds, while Roy Pickler, a 63-year-old self-employed Santa Claus from Middlebury, IN, lost five pounds after dropping from 292 to 287 pounds.

Lauren Lee, a 26-year-old exercise physiologist from Poolesville, MD, then weighed-in on behalf of Dolvett's team and fell from 237 pounds to 233 pounds after she lost four pounds. Nancy lost a total of five pounds; and Conda Britt, a 24-year-old nutrition health services technician from Rockford, MI, shed seven pounds.

Mike lost seven pounds; Mark Cornelison, a 43-year-old youth pastor from Magnolia, TX, lost eight pounds; and Allen "Buddy" Shuh, a 42-year-old pastor from Wayne, MI, shed nine pounds.

Dolvett's Red team lost a total of 52 pounds and posted a 2.09% weight-loss percentage. Because they were not even close to reaching their goal of 94 pounds, Bob's Black team received the five-pound advantage.

It then became time for the Black team to weigh-in.


Gail Lee, a 57-year-old realtor from Poolesville, MD, was the first member of the Black team to step on the scale and she lost a total of five pounds. She dropped from 313 to 308 pounds, while Megan Stone, a 21-year-old student and support staffer for an organization that assists disabled adults from Dittmer, MO, fell from 252 pounds to 248 pounds after shedding four pounds.

Cassandra Sturos, a 25-year-old in-home senior caregiver from Fowlerville, MI, fell from 225 pounds to 220 pounds, losing five pounds over the course of the week. Emily shed four pounds after dropping from 254 pounds to 250 pounds.

Christine "Chris" Pickler, a 42-year-old who is self-employed from Middlebury, IN, lost six pounds after she fell from 232 pounds to 226 pounds, while Joe started off the week weighing 242 pounds and fell to 234 pounds after he lost eight pounds.

Jeremy Britt, a 22-year-old banker from Rockford, MI, lost seven pounds after falling from 376 pounds to 369 pounds. Isaac "Chism" Cornelison, a 19-year-old student from Magnolia, TX, dropped from 349 pounds to 341 pounds after he shed eight pounds.

Bob's Black team lost a total of 52 pounds and posted a 2.22% weight-loss percentage, winning the weigh-in only because of the five-pound advantage they had received thanks to the Red team's poor bidding decision.

Alison then announced Dolvett's Red team would face elimination, but Mark received immunity for posting the highest weight-loss percentage on his team. Chris was then declared to have lost the most weight on the winning team, so as a result, she selected her husband Roy to receive immunity and be safe from the Red team's vote.


The Red team's contestants then entered the deliberation room to discuss who they were going to vote off. Kim lost the least amount of weight on the team and also had been responsible for making the bad bet, so she worried she'd be the one to go. She begged her fellow team members to save her because she wanted to make her kids proud.

A few of the contestants, especially Conda, were frustrated that Mike had attempted to take so many breaks for snacks and rest during the last chance workout and felt he wasn't giving the journey his all.

Once in the voting room, Conda and Mike got into an argument over Mike's effort and persistence. Mike believed Conda didn't like him from the start, which seemed to be accurate because he had called her brother Jeremy a "tank" during the season's first weigh-in, and she found it to be very disrespectful and rude. Conda also accused Mike of lying about little things such as tobacco.

As votes were being revealed for Mike one by one, Mike said he assumed people wanted him gone because he was liked the least out of all the members on his team. He claimed it wasn't because of his motivation or work ethic, and then he became vulnerable and admitted he felt left out of the team.

Mike explained he originally went to the ranch to spend more time with his brother who had lived a distance away from him for most of his life, but it didn't end up happening because they were split up from the start and Joe was bonding with his team members. Conda's walls then fell down, and she said she wished Mike had expressed his problems earlier on because it might have changed the outcome.

Kim, Roy, Conda, Nancy, and Kimmy all voted to oust Mike from The Biggest Loser competition, as five votes were enough to constitute for his elimination. Mike voted for Conda.


In a post-elimination update, Mike, who started The Biggest Loser weighing 358 pounds, said he currently weighs 302 pounds. Mike said he felt amazing and no longer lived his life to eat. He picked up boxing as a hobby, but still struggled with his nicotine addiction. However, he strived to be a good role model for his children.






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski