by David McAlpine

Alison, Jillian and Bob are all back for the heaviest season of The Biggest Loser yet, on tonight's premiere of the ninth season. 11 teams of 2 family members embark on their weight-loss journey in a different place than before: their hometowns. Before they even reach the Biggest Loser ranch, they'll be making their first weigh-ins in front of their family and friends at home, for the public to see.

The season kicks off with a personal phone call from Bob or Jillian, telling the family teams that they're going to be on the show--and they'll be baring their weight in front of everyone. It almost seems too emotional and too private to be doing in such an open fashion, but I guess Bob and Jillian don't seem to think so, because they're excited about the contestants taking a courageous first step.

But the twists don't stop there. Shortly after they all arrive at the ranch, they enter the gym, which is completely empty. All of a sudden, a curtain falls and behind it are 11 pairs of stationary bikes.

For their first challenge, each pair has to collectively bike 26.2 miles, the length of the marathon the remaining contestants typically run at the end of the season. The team that finishes first gets immunity, but the last two teams to finish will have to leave the ranch immediately. Now, I'm all for twists, but this seems counterintuitive to the whole point: sending the two arguably least physically fit teams home? Not a fan.

The Green and Gray teams take off at a fast pace, putting a huge amount distance between themselves and the other teams. Soon enough, it's just the Green team of Miggy and Migdalia in the lead and they finish first, earning themselves immunity for the week. While everyone was focused on biking, the Blue team's Cherita starts to cramp up so bad that Dr. Huizenga has to pull her off the bicycle and stop her from competing. After over an hour of biking, the Yellow and Blue teams are left as the last place teams, having to leave before they even have the chance to begin.

On their way out in the limos, however, they're stopped by Bob and Jillian and given the good news: each pair will be returning in 30 days for a weigh-off. The team with the highest percentage of weight lost will earn their spot in the house, while the losers will be out of the game. In addition, both teams will have Bob and Jillian to use during the month-long period. I was happy to see that there was some incentive because of how ridiculous this twist was in the first place, but it still doesn't make it any easier to see them go.

After Blue and Yellow leave, everyone else gets started with their first of many grueling workouts in the gym. Right off the bat, several contestants were falling over, passing out and vomiting, which scared Jillian. The Brown team's James' knee injury flared up and inhibited his ability to exercise, but he still pushed through in the pool and on the bike. However, no one seemed to be giving up and their effort stayed consistent all the way through their last-chance workouts this week.

The weigh-in results were as follows:

Migdalia: -16
Miggy: -13
Green Team: -29 (-5.74%)

Patti: -23 (the most weight lost by a female in one week)
Stephanie: -18
Purple Team: -41 (-8.09%)

Cheryl: -14
Daris: -29
Orange Team: -43 (-7.50%)

Lance: -21
Melissa: -19
Red Team: -40 (-6.69%)

Ashley: -21
Sherry: -17
Pink Team: -38 (-6.42%)

Andrea: -14
Darrell: -30
Black Team: -44 (-6.19%)

Koli: -29
Sam: -18
Gray Team: -47 (-6.06%)

Maria: -13
Michael: -34 (the most weight lost by a contestant in one week)
White Team: -47 (-5.82%)

James: -23
John: -23
Brown Team: -46 (-4.75%)

So now, the 8 teams above the yellow line were left to decide between twin brothers, each of who were within one pound of each other and lost the same amount of weight this week. John had more distractions at home with work, while James still had to take care of his knee injury. It was really sad to watch them debate between two people they seemingly couldn't tell apart. In the end, Green voted to send John home, but everyone else voted for James.

Now, two months later, James has lost 100 pounds and claims that being in the gym is his job. By the finale night, he plans to beat Danny's record (from last season) of 240 pounds lost in a season.

Catch new episodes of The Biggest Loser only on NBC on Tuesdays at 8/7c!

(Photo courtesy of NBC)

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