The contestants are off on the adventure of a lifetime, headed to Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah, where they'll train like champions and get to meet some incredible Olympic athletes. Dolvett introduces the players to Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno, who talks about his own "Second Chance" - this season's theme - and works out with the contestants inside the spectacular Olympic Oval arena. Then the contestants get to compete in the sport of curling, after an introduction to USA Curling team members Jessica Schultz, Debbie McCormick and Anne Swisshelm. The fun continues at the base of the bobsled track, where words of motivation from USA Bobsled Team members Lolo Jones and Jazmine Fenlator get the remaining seven players fired up about the fast-paced sport. But for this week's challenge, they won't be racing down the track. Instead, they will be running more than a mile up the bobsled track, a challenge made far more difficult by the elevation of over 7,000 feet. Also this week, Bob designs an Olympic-inspired workout that puts all the players to the test, and Jillian tries to help a contestant still struggling to embrace her self-worth. Travelling and being away from the ranch environment leaves many contestants worried about their weight loss this week. Those fears intensify at the weigh-in, where surprising results push two players below the yellow line and the other contestants must decide which player is going home.
Season 15 Episode 12 of The Biggest Loser was watched by 5,560,000 viewers, resulting in a 1.70 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
Is The Biggest Loser Renewed or Cancelled for Season 16?
The simple idea of The Biggest Loser, familiar to dieters the world over, is that "whomever loses the most... wins". Losing weight will be difficult, though, as the 12 contestants (six male and six female) will be faced with "real-life temptations" that their new "approved weight-loss skills and resources" should help them overcome - if they want to win, that is.
The twelve contestants will be divided into two teams of six, cleverly named the Blue team and the Red team. The teams will be mixed by gender and will be organized to be approximately equal in weight. Each team will then be assigned a "team trainer" to teach it individual fitness and nutrition regimens. According to NBC, one trainer has a tough 'boot camp' attitude while the other offers a much calmer approach yet remains strict and focused on results. So ... will the carrot or the stick work better?
The personal fitness trainers on The Biggest Loser will be Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. Michaels' celebrity clientele includes entertainment mogul David Geffen, Amanda Peet, Vanessa Marcil, Amber Tamblyn, Sarah Paulson and Jeremy Renner. Harper is a consultant to trainers and teachers alike, and has trained such celebrities as Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Guy Ritchie, Lauren Dern, Selma Blair, Jessica Alba and Dermot Mulroney.
To be sure that the contestants do not drop dead on the air from all the unaccustomed exercise, they will be under the supervision of off-camera medical experts, including Robert Huizenga, author of "You're OK, It's Just a Bruise", the book on which the feature film Any Given Sunday was based, and UCLA nutrition professor Dave Heber.
During each week's broadcast, the teams will face difficult and demanding daily work-outs culminating in a weekly competition in the form of a challenge, but the moment of truth will come during a weekly weigh-in. At the weigh-in, each team member will be weighed to determine the total pounds lost as a team. The team that loses the least amount of weight is faced with having to eliminate one of their own. In the end, the winner of The Biggest Loser walks away with $250,000 and a healthier body augmented by new coping skills.