Utah’s Biggest Loser Contestant
Another Utah contestant will be competing on this next season of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser.” Hap Holmstead, born and raised in American Fork, Utah, will be one of the competing to lose the most weight on Season 15, which begins Oct. 15 (I initially reported it as Oct. 8, but NBC pushed the date back a week.)
His bio on NBC says that he had a passion for baseball, and “was on the radar of baseball teams like the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, but the teams stopped contacting him when he decided to go on a church mission after high school rather than attend major league tryouts.” (I’m guessing that was probably an LDS mission.)
The rest of his bio says, “Now 26 years old and 403 pounds, the married father of three kids under age three, Hap wants to lose the weight so he can play baseball again as well as other competitive sports. He attributes his weight gain to a poor diet, working on the road and gaining as much as 45 pounds for football when he played at Utah’s Snow College. The extra weight has left him with frequent shortness of breath and difficulty moving around comfortably for everyday activities. Now he’s determined to make healthier choices so he can walk his girls down the aisle someday and be there for his family for many years to come.”
“Biggest Loser” fans will recall that Jackson Carter of Layton made it to the finals of Season 14, losing 138 pounds in the process. (My interviews with Jackson are here and here.) Last April when I spoke to Jackson, he had lost another ten pounds, and was working out at the Clearfield Aquatics Center.
Deni Hill of Bountiful was the at-home winner of Season 11, with her daughter, Sarah Nitta, plus Rulon Gardner and Justin Pope also representing Utah. (You can also check out weight loss tips from interviews with Sarah, Deni and Justin.)
Updates: Deni and her husband, Dell, recently got a call to serve an two-year LDS (Mormon) mission in Mongolia. Sarah works for at The Biggest Loser Resort in Ivins, Utah, doing social media. The last time I talked to Justin (about two years ago) he and his former friend and business partner Rulon Gardner had parted ways. The same day of my interview, Justin had signed the papers selling his share of their gym to Rulon. I got the impression that the “Biggest Loser” experience soured their relationship. Last year, Rulon filed for bankruptcy.
Other “Biggest Loser” contestants from Utah include Burgandy Keel of Eagle Mountain and Heather Hansen of Bountiful. When I interviewed Heather for the Deseret News, she struck me as being super-competitive. She told me she and fellow contestant Kai would switch lids on the Cool-Whip containers in the fridge, so the guys thought they were eating the fat-free version! Wonder how many calories they racked up eating full-fat Cool Whip? Heather made it to the Final 4, but then stunned everyone at the finale by being obviously pregnant. (The final contestants returned home for a few months before the finale.)
At first glance it may seem as if Utah has had a high number of contestants, and you start wondering what that says about the state’s obesity levels. But when you consider there have been 15 seasons, with 20 or so contestants each season, Utah’s handful of contestants isn’t out of the ordinary.