by Gina Scarpa

 

Last week, on The Biggest Loser, the game went to singles and kicked off with a temptation challenge worth a 2 pound advantage on the scale. Few chose to indulge in the cakes and candies, including Michael. At the weigh-in, he came up a pound short and fell below the yellow line. Up against Francelina, the other contestants voted to send him home, knowing that he was a big threat if he made it to the finale. We talked to Michael today about his journey on the ranch, his time with the trainers, and Jeff's vote to send him home in an exclusive interview.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: What was your motivation for going on The Biggest Loser?

A. Michael: My main motivation was that I was really desperate, at this point, to get something that would work. When I auditioned the year before, for season 13, it was some of the same things that other people say. It would be cool to be on a reality show, it would be productive, I'd lose weight, it works... but then, when it came time for season 14, I was at a different place. Little Mike had just been born, I found out I couldn't get life insurance because I was over 400 lbs, and I was desperate. It was desperation that drove me to pursue being on the show.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Which part of being on the ranch was way more difficult than it seems on tv?

A. Michael: I would probably have to say the most difficult part of it would have to be getting into that groove. What I mean by that is, realizing that it's not jus tabour eating right and exercising but it's both of those. They make it look so much easier, believe it or not, on tv than it actually is. My first two weeks, I actually was having issues with wanting to eat because I think that happens when people go through an experience like that. I had to force myself to eat because I needed food to fuel my workouts. It was actually very hard. It took me a couple of weeks.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Bob is always talking about transforming yourself, not just on the outside, but the inside as well. Were there things you felt you needed to deal with emotionally first, before you were able to truly get healthy?

A. Michael: Oh yeah, big time! I am one of the pickiest eaters you'll ever meet. People laugh because I was over 444 lbs, but I was picky! For me, I needed to find out what made me get to that point and I realized that food, while I liked it... from the point when I was in college, from that point forward, I would actually go to food as my comfort place. It took me to get to this place to look at my overeating and it was just a happy place where life was simpler. I would go to the places that reminded me of home, not because I had to have this one food item but because if I ate it, it would give me a sense of when things were simpler for me. I carried that into my adult life, pre making it to The Biggest Loser.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: When the game went to individuals, Dolvett has his sights set on you during that first workout. Why do you think he zoned in on you?

A. Michael: One of the things he had actually said to me and Gina was that we were the most successful in the house. Gina was The Biggest Loser of the house and I had lost the most weight so far. He really wanted to get with us to find out how we ticked and how we worked. That was something that he made a challenge to him.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: He also perceived you as someone who gave up too easily. Did he misunderstand what you were feeling?

A. Michael: Well actually, what you guys saw... what happened was, he was surprised because he had seen me from a distance in the gym. He saw that I was a fighter and during that particular workout, which was running, he made an observation that I made it to a certain point and then I gave up. His perceptions were right. I would try my best in other workouts to avoid the running part. I was still a big boy and running was still difficult for me, not on my joints, but on my breathing.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: You were so close to staying above the yellow line at this week's weigh-in. What went through your mind when you saw you missed safety by a pound?

A. Michael: Basically, I went through my head of what I could've done differently the night before and that was it. I was even having some buyer's remorse about how I treated the temptation challenge. Had I indulged in eating, I wouldn't have been in that situation.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Jeff promised he'd never vote for you, but then it was his vote that sent you home. Did you take it personally?

A. Michael: I took it personally. I had done the math and realized that, with Danni's vote and Gina's vote, I was going home. I knew Jackson wasn't gonna vote for Francie, and I figured Joe's rationale for voting for me would be because he's a teammate of Francie. I knew, once Gina gave her vote, that I was going home. Hearing Jef's vote hurt me because he didn't have to vote for me. There's a difference there. It seems to me at the time, and I'm still questioning, that if you weren't trying to play the game and be foul then why did you do it? That's what it is. If we're supposed to be such good friends... I was playing the game looking out for him. We made a pact that we wanted to go to the end and let the scale decide who was The Biggest Loser.

 

Q. Gina, RealityWanted: Are you hoping for a chance to get back on the ranch?

A. Michael: Every day with The Biggest Loser, you never know what to expect! I was holding out some hope but I knew that was a big source of controversy in season 13 and I knew production was very careful about causing any other type of upheaval. I hope for the best, but expect the worst!

 

 

The Biggest Loser airs Mondays at 8/7c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

 

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