by David McAlpine

Last time on The Biggest Loser, the contestants got makeovers to compliment their new bodies. After inspirational speeches by all, it came down to Rebecca and Liz, splitting the house in two. In the end, Rebecca lost out to list in a 3-1 vote, leaving only five in the house.

This week, it's Amanda versus everyone in a showdown to get one step closer to the finale. Amanda is concerned that, since she's the odd one out age-wise, she's the next to go, especially since the other four have been voting together.

Alison introduces a new guest to the contestants this week: Suze Orman, a really big stretch of a cross-promotion on NBC's part. But hey, if they think it works, I'm down to think it works, too.

However, the more she explains it, the more it makes sense. The more overweight you are, the more expensive your health insurance because the chances of you getting sick or dying are much higher. Plus, Americans spend a ghastly amount of money per year on gastric bypass surgery -- $4.4 billion! Then it hit: the rest of her talk with the contestants can be seen on her show this weekend. Touche, NBC, touche.

Even better, Jillian's shameless plug for Multigrain Cheerios. Well, according to Jillian, it's not a plug, it's a "heart to heart."

On to this week's challenge, where the contestants have to (literally) deal with the weight that they've lost up to this point. Each contestant has to carry the amount of weight that they've lost in footballs across the entire football field and dump them at the end. The winner gets a trip to the 2010 Pro Bowl in Miami and a boatload of athletic equipment for their own use.

The editors don't even try to make it look close. From the beginning of the contest, Allen has the win in the bag. I mean, he's a firefighter, so I would expect him to win a challenge that's basically lifting and carrying his own bodyweight.

The bulk of the show comes with the weigh-in, since there's no immunity challenge this week and Amanda is on the outs of the other four. Not to mention Rudy could break the record of most weight lost in 11 weeks and Danny could get the most consecutive double-digit weight losses the show has seen. The results of the weigh-in are as follows:

Danny: -16 (-5.26%)
Rudy: -12 (-3.90%)
Amanda: -7 (-3.63%)
Allen: -8 (-3.36%)
Liz: -5 (-2.46%)

So, Rudy makes it into the 200s, Liz makes it into the 100s, and Amanda sneaks by again for another week (much to my delight, of course), leaving the three to vote between Allen and Liz.

Allen doesn't waste any time, because he's just as smart as Rebecca was last week. He knows that Danny is going to keep Liz and Rudy is going to keep him, so he goes straight for Amanda and talks to her about how much it would be in her interest to keep him instead of Liz. In what realm he's thinking that would ever be the case is beyond me.

Apparently it was beyond Amanda, too, because she, along with Danny, voted to eliminate Allen, ending his time on the ranch. Now home, Allen is down another 10 pounds, to 220 and looking fantastic!

Tune in to NBC tomorrow at 9/8c for a special "Where Are They Now" episode of The Biggest Loser, featuring 40 past contestants!

(Image courtesy of NBC)

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