Biggest Loser: Utah’s Scott Mitchell Eliminated
In a surprising and disappointing episode, contestant Scott Mitchell of Utah was voted off of “The BIggest Loser” tonight.
Surprising because so many of the other contestants looked to Mitchell as the leader. That was evident in winning tonight’s challenge.
Disappointing because the remaining 8 players were told if they could lose 50 pounds as a group, everyone would be able to stay another week.
Then because they won the challenge, that amount was reduced to 40 pounds.
When you consider the big numbers that have been posted in past weeks, losing an average of 5 pounds per player seemed like a slam-dunk. And yet, people were only posting 2- or 3-pound losses. Scott lost zero, and Toma actually gained a pound, putting them both below the yellow line and requiring a vote.
If it were just a red-line situation where the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss was automatically eliminated, Toma would be gone. But the yellow line required a vote, which came down to friendships and alliances, and in my opinion, who was considered the biggest threat. Scott has shown himself as a never-give-up competitor, just as he was during his years playing quarterback at the U and in the NFL.
A class act right to the end, Scott gave a gracious speech about how much he loved everyone and enjoyed his time. But, as viewers, we knew it wasn’t right to the end, as the limo took Scott over to see Bob Harper at Comeback Canyon, where he will get another chance to stay on the ranch. His competition is Damien, another former NFL player. Should be interesting to see what happens. Damien will be coming off of an 11-pound weight loss, while Scott lost nothing last week and should be due.
But the low numbers seems mystifying, because everyone looked like they were working out just as hard as ever. I have to wonder if each player secretly thought they could just coast, since all they needed was a 5-pound loss. Or, maybe some people might have decided not to prolong the time on the ranch, and let someone go home. So the goal might have been to lose enough weight to keep themselves safe, but not enough to meet the 40-pound challenge.
Whatever happened, it’s kind of odd for someone to spend a whole week working out several hours a day and eating 1,300 to 1,800 calories a day (which is what I’ve heard the range is) and not lose any weight.
In past seasons, there have been behind-the-scenes bargains struck among teammates. In Season 11, Deni Hill of Bountiful, Utah was promised that if she would gain weight and get herself sent home, her team would keep her daughter, Sarah Nitta, “safe.” But, Sarah was sent home two weeks later. In these reality TV series, promises are made to be broken.
In an interview back then, Hill told me she realized it was a mistake. “Hindsight is 20-20. At the time, I thought that was my only choice to keep Sarah. Now I wish I would have just tried as hard to lose as much weight as I could. But it’s what it is.”
Fortunately, Deni Hill went on to win the $100,000 prize as the eliminated contestant wit the higher percentage of weight lost. most weight at home.
In 2006, Heather Hansen (also of Bountiful, Utah) deliberately gained weight in order to force a vote between her and Bobby Moore, who ended up getting eliminated. In an interview a few weeks’s after the show’s finale, Hansen told me she drank a gallon of water just before that weigh-in. Hansen did make it to the final four contestants. But in a strange twist, she showed up at the finale five months pregnant, so all her scheming was for naught.
Scott may end up finding his way back to the ranch; he is a competitor and nobody should count him out just yet.
For more on Scott Mitchell, here’s my post responding to questions about whether or not he’s a Mormon.
Other posts about past Biggest Loser contestants:
Matt Miller’s exit interview.
Deni Hill’s Mormon mission in Mongolia
Sarah Nitta’s weight loss tips.
Justin Pope’s weight loss tips.
Jackson Carter’s weight loss tips.
Jackson Carter’s behind-the-scenes info back at “the ranch.”
And lots more! Just click on the “Biggest Loser” tags and you’ll find more interviews and updates of contestants, as well as my musings as I’ve followed each season for the past several years.