Biggest Loser Season 16 Week 5 Recap: Stakes are high – really high

Matt helps his team to victory in the canyon crossing challenge. Credit: NBC

*SPOILER ALERT!* We’re recapping tonight’s Biggest Loser episode (get all the recaps here!), so avert your eyes if you don’t want to know what happened.

Dolvett wasn’t happy about losing Mike on last week’s episode, and he was darned if he was going to lose another team member. Jessie’s blue team is already down to 4 members, but Jen’s white team is still six members strong and she wants to keep it that way.

The Challenge

Everyone is freaked out — they’re standing on the edge of a canyon, and they’ll have to cross that canyon on 600 feet of zip line. The prize for the winning team is that they get to choose someone on an opposing team and have their weight not count in the weigh-in. Oh, and if dangling from a canyon isn’t scary enough, Ali let them know that there will be a red line at the weigh-in, and whoever goes below it is instantly eliminated.

Did we call this a zip line? Damien would like to correct us on that:

Quote of the Week

From Damien: “This isn’t a zip line where you just have this jolly, good time flying across the canyon. You’re actually putting in work.”

And then he wrenched his shoulder, but he made it across.

As in all the other challenges, the white team prevailed, even though Woody really, really didn’t want to do the challenge.

Over at Comeback Canyon, Mike and Chandra battled to stay another week with Bob. Mike said that at the start of his Biggest Loser journey, it was all about mourning the death of his son, but as he has progressed, he said the focus is on his own life.

Jen’s team had the coolest Last-Chance Workout — they got to workout on the beach. None of that slow-motion Baywatch jogging on the beach — they were sprinting.

Comeback Canyon Weigh-In

Mike lost 7 pounds, making 73 pounds in five weeks, which is pretty amazing. Chandra lost 4, so as per usual, Mike gets to stay another week with Bob, while the reigning champ is eliminated.

Ranch Weigh-In

The white team chose to sideline Damien from the blue team, but Jessie had a hunch that would happen and stepped up everyone else’s work. So how’d they do?

Red Team

• Scott: 13
• Blake: 7
• Jordan: 7
• Rob: 5

Blue Team

• Damien: 6
• Gina: 7
• Jackie: 8
• Lori: 9

(They pretty much crushed it.)

White Team

• JJ: 5
• Sonya: 6
• Woody: 7
• Rondalee: 8
• Toma: 9
• Matt: 3

It’s the first time that the white team lost the weigh-in and Matt’s 3-pound loss put him below the red line so it’s off to Comeback Canyon for him. Awww, we’ll miss his hunky model “before” photo flashbacks.

Chandra’s Update

Chandra has now lost 55 pounds and is able to really move in her role as a coach for a high school girl’s summer basketball team. Before she would stand on the sidelines, and now she’s doing layups with the rest of them.

What to Expect Next Week

Uh oh — it’s a food challenge, and whoever eats the most food gets immunity (and heartburn). Step away from the donuts!

Bonus! Answer to the Biggest Loser 10th Anniversary Quiz

In our 10th anniversary post on The Biggest Loser, we asked how many sets of twins have competed. There have been three — Jim and Bill Germanakos from season 4, James and John Crutchfield from season 9, and Don and Dan Evans from season 11.

Could you zip-line across a canyon? —Gail