The Biggest Loser (Season 3)

"The Biggest Loser" is an NBC reality television show that began broadcasting on October 19, 2004. Season Three began on September 20, 2006 with fifty overweight contestants, one from each US state, who would compete to lose the most weight. Immediately, the group was narrowed to 14 when the trainers each selected seven competitors for their teams. The show is hosted by comedian Caroline Rhea. Bob Harper and Kim Lyons are the two personal trainers, with Bob leading the blue team and Kim leading the red team. The show's opening theme song was 'Proud' by Heather Small. The opening credits showed each contestant in turn, and displayed his or her starting weights.

The blue team consisted of: Amy (Maryland), Bobby (Tennessee), Brian (California), Erik (New York), Marty (Missouri), Melinda (Alabama) and Tiffany (Texas).

The red team consisted of: Heather (Utah), Jennifer (Minnesota), Kai (Alaska), Ken (Washington), Nelson (Massachusetts), Pam (Indiana) and Wylie (Florida).

Out of these 14, a set of four finalists were determined before the release date of the show. On the final episode, those finalists reunited for a live weigh-in to determine the winner. At the finale, it was revealed that Heather would not weigh in to compete for the prize money because she was 5 months pregnant. Of the three other finalists, Erik had the largest percentage of weight loss, with 214 lbs, which was 52.58% of his body weight. He received $250,000 for this feat. Additionally, Poppi from New Jersey, who lost the most of the 36 who didn't make it to the regular season won $50,000, and the individual who lost the most out of the remaining 14 (including Jaron and Adrian, the two at-home players who returned to the ranch) who were on the show, but not finalists, won $100,000. This player was Brian from California, who lost 50.65% of his weight.

Contestants

colorbox|red Member of Kim's team

colorbox|blue Member of Bob's team

colorbox|purple Last person eliminated before finale

colorbox|lightgrey The two 36 at home people who entered the ranch in Week 8

colorbox|orange Winner (among finalists $250,000)

colorbox|lightblue Winner (among eliminated contestants $100, 000)

The 36 at Home

36 people were eliminated in the first episode. However, the male and female with the highest percentage of weight lost after 8 weeks returned to the ranch. This turned out to be Jaron and Adrian (see chart above). Both were eliminated before the finale.

At the finale, host Caroline Rhea revealed that the at-home contestant who lost the highest percentage of weight would be awarded a $50,000 prize. The two players who lost the most were weighed live on the finale. Poppi from New Jersey narrowly edged out Matthew from Maine to win the $50,000, losing 50.43% of her start weight, versus Matthew's 48.09% loss. (Note: Jaron and Adrian were counted as players eliminated from the ranch, and thus did not compete for the at-home $50,000.)

In the table below, entries highlighted in yellow lost a percentage of weight commensurate with the least of those remaining at the ranch (in week 8, 17%), according to the latest data. The contestants who returned to the ranch as of week 8 are highlighted in orange.

Trivia

This season contained the most total contestants (50) and the most ranch contestants overall (16).

Erik lost the most pounds (214) and the highest percentage of weight ever in any country's version of the show.

Sabrina was the lightest female, at 196 pounds.

Kally was the heaviest female, at 286 pounds.

Did They Keep the Weight Off?

Before Season 4, a special episode revisited past contestants to see if they kept the weight off. Except for Season One's Andrea, none had done so. Poppi, the at-home winner, gained the least with only 9.4% of her lost weight regained.

Marty regained 21 of the 146 pounds he lost to weigh in at 240. He had also gained a fiance, when he proposed to fellow contestant Amy on-air.

Erik, the Biggest Loser of Season Three, regained 38 of his record-setting 214 pounds lost to weigh in at 231.

Pam regained 8 of 68 pounds to weigh 187.Poppi regained 11 of 117 pounds to weigh 126.Wylie regained 32 of 129 pounds to weigh 210.

Brian, although not featured on the show, was included in the official Biggest Loser website. Having regained 47 of the 156 pounds originally lost, his 30.1% regain was the largest of those shown.

External links

* [http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/ NBC: "The Biggest Loser"]
* [http://www.biggest-loser.net/ "Biggest Loser Fan Site"]
* [http://www.biggestloser3.com/ "Biggest Loser 3 Fan Voting Site"]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StgBvLLgr50 Heather Hansen Audition Video]