The Biggest Loser/Tear Jerker

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Here are some of the sadder moments from The Biggest Loser:

  • In the third season of the UK version of the show, the Black Team lost the first team weigh-in in Week 5, and the elimination that took place the next episode ended in a hung vote. When the Blue Team decided to eliminate Dave, it was Jamie, Dave's 21 year old son, who made the deliberation. Just watching a young lad get so emotional over eliminating his own dad from the competition is heartbreaking to watch, but the send off he gives his dad amplifies the effect, as it is something that a lot of men can relate to in relation to their fathers.
  • In the second week of Season 7, the oldest contestant, Jerry, and the heaviest, Daniel, both fell under the yellow line. The other contestants saw this as a worst case scenario, since both needed to be on campus for as long as possible. Even the usually cheerful hostess, Alison, is seen wiping a tear from her eye. The worst part is that Daniel had a 1lb penalty that week, but it was enough to put him up for elimination. Had he not received the 1lb penalty, Daniel would have been safe, and Joelle would have been up for elimination, and made the elimination that week much easier on the other contestants.
  • Season 8 contestant, Abby Rike's story is just tragic: two years before appearing on the show, the poor woman had lost her husband, five year old, and one week children in a horrific car crash caused a speeding driver doing 100mph+. As she described it, she had everything she worked for taken away from her in an instant.
    • Another moment, was before the Week 3 elimination between the Red Team and Orange Team, arguably the most desperate teams in the competition. Emotional about the scenario his in, Sean didn't even hesitate to tell the Orange Team, particularly Shay: "You can't go home!"
    • Daniel's eventual elimination in Week 9 of Season 8 saw him become the first ever victim of the dreaded Red Line, which automatically eliminates the player below it. Given he had to endure two seasons just to get to a more manageable weight, and he still isn't there yet at 256lb, it was a huge surprise, and everyone else was visibly upset by this result, none more so than Rebecca. The send off he is given definitely doubles as a heartwarming moment.
  • In the middle of Season 9, O'Neal received news that his brother had passed away. He had a complete emotional meltdown during one of the workouts after the fact, angry, frustrated, and guilty that he didn't even get a chance to say goodbye to him before he died, and it is agonising to watch.
  • Even in the detested Season 13, there was Chism's shocking elimination in Week 9. In a group challenge for everyone to lose 5% of their current weight at home in 18 days, Chism had to lose 15lbs to get immunity. Despite only needing 12lb to keep his team safe (since his team would be safe anyway, so it wouldn't have mattered), he only lost 11lbs, resulting in his automatic elimination as the only one on his team to fail to hit his 5% target. The 19 year old was reduced to tears as a result; in fact, there wasn't a dry eye in the house that night.
    • What made it even sadder though was when his dad, Mark, started begging Alison to keep his son in the competition and to send himself home instead. It's particularly upsetting to see a father pleading to go home so his child doesn't have to.
  • Bob Harper had one in Season 15, Week 7; the Blue Team lost the weigh-in that week, which resulted in the elimination of Olympic weightlifter, Holley Mangold, whom he had become extremely close to. This is quite possibly the closest Bob has ever come to tears over an elimination. You can also see other contestants (particularly Chelsea and Marie) holding back tears.
    • Also from Season 15, David's life prior to his appearance on the show can qualify as this; this is a man who married at age 22, and quickly discovered that his wife (named Andrea) had brain cancer. Tragically, she passed away 10 years later, and he has struggled to cope with the loss since. It was such a tragic story, that it had the other contestants reaching for the tissues when they sat down and watched his audition video with him in Week 6. You can tell that David had been through a lot in his life.
    • Jay coming to terms with the loss of his childhood home when he returns to his hometown with Jillian for a week. It is clear as day that he has had a hard time accepting this loss, and his shaken "I did..." when Jillian asks him what died that day doesn't help.
  • A meta example: hearing the news that Season 7/8 contestant, Daniel Wright, had passed away in June 2019 after a battle with leukaemia is devastating. That season's winner, Danny Cahill, even gave him a heartfelt send off on social media. Making it more tragic is that he died at age 30, the age that Alison Sweeney said he wouldn't make it to when he first appeared on the show.
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