The Biggest Loser - 8 ª Season

The sixteen contestants for season 8 are introduced. The theme for the season is having a second chance, which brings with it a lot of baggage for most, if not all, contestants. The second chance applies to the show with one contestant, back from a previous season, and has been allowed to continue with his weight loss journey. Before the contestants even have a chance to do a workout, weigh-in or meet the trainers, they are subjected to their first challenge, a 1-mile race, the winner to have immunity from elimination. As with previous seasons, all the contestants will be paired up, the winner of the race also having the choice of his/her partner. The race proves to be too much for two of the contestants. At the first official weigh-in, there are five people over 400 pounds apiece - the largest number ever for the show, and the heaviest single person ever on the show. At their first workout, the contestants learn that both Bob and Jillian will be jointly training them all. Each contestant goes through a medical evaluation, which is a wake up call for most. At the first elimination weigh-in, only fifteen contestants weigh-in, although all sixteen are still in the game.

Immediately after Alexandra is the first person voted off campus, Alison tells the remaining contestants that every person will stay on campus for an extra week if they work together to lose a collective 150 pounds by the next weigh-in. If they don't, the reward turns into a punishment where two people will be voted off. Bob and Jillian know the contestants have an almost impossible task because of the historic curse of "week 2", but do their best to help the contestants realize the goal. The contestants place added pressure and stress on themselves and the other contestants, especially those who they feel are not working hard enough. Much of the animosity is directed toward Julio, who many felt should have been voted off the previous week. Celebrity chef Curtis Stone also assists the contestants in learning about healthy eating. They better be paying attention as a reward challenge is based on his lecture, the reward being a collective 15 pound advantage at the weigh-in. The contestants face a second reward challenge as a team based on their collective ability to balance. Mid way through the week, Tracey returns to the campus after recuperating in the hospital from her collapse during the one mile race on day 1. She, still under medical supervision, has to be especially careful of balancing her food intake against her lessened physical exertion.

Because the contestants met the challenge of losing a collective 150 pounds between them the previous week - even without needing the 35 extra pounds they "won" - no one was voted off campus last week. One contestant learns of a medical issue which may altar her training. Before the start of this week, Alison offers one team a weight advantage at the next weigh-in in exchange for no access to the trainers, that weight advantage starting at 2 pounds and going up by 2 pounds until one team decides to take it. The individual that ultimately makes the unilateral decision to take the weight advantage does not have the emotional support of their partner or of the trainers. Alison offers yet a second advantage, this one available to only one person. That person will decide which person from each team will represent the team in the next weigh-in. The winner of that advantage has to eat the most food placed in front of them, each person not being able to see the amount eaten by any of the others. The trainers once again chastise the person who ate the most food. The teams also face an immunity challenge, one of both strength and endurance. The teams are given the choice of heavier weights over longer distances or lighter weights over shorter distances. Irrespective of the challenge outcome, all teams race in the spirit it was intended. By the end of the week, one person becomes the target for all the others, regardless of if that person remains on campus after this week or not.

After the last weigh-in, Sean and Antoine sacrificed themselves for Shay's sake and requested that they be voted off the campus, to which the other contestants complied. The actions by Tracey the last week were not well received by the others, which may make her a target. She also receives some news from Dr. Huizenga about her medical situation. The week long challenge the contestants face is no access to the kitchen, meaning that they have to order in all their meals. Bob and Jillian know that they have to make the workouts that much more difficult to compensate for the probable bad food the contestants are eating, but they also assist the contestants by taking them all out for one meal to teach them how to order. Also concerning food, the contestants have a reward challenge on making the smartest food choice among three different chicken meals. For immunity, they have a strength endurance test. The result breaks a mental barrier for one. After the weigh-in, the voting process is a highly emotional one.

With Julio voted off campus after the latest weigh-in, all the remaining participants are now in paired off in their original pairs. Or are they? The first game, one purely of luck, offers the winner the power to rearrange the groupings. The participants will now be split into two teams - one training with Jillian, one training with Bob - with the winner of the game assigning who will train with who and who will be on which team. The game has some other possible windfalls, but also some large potential costs. The winner of the game is the one person who most of the other participants least wanted it, that person who makes some unpopular decisions. Some are unable to cope without the partner they've had since day one of being on campus. The reward challenge is one of each person figuratively and literally carrying their team, the winning team to get a video letter from home. Some on the winning team show their support for their former partners. When the deliberation for the vote off occurs after the weigh-in, the team has one person as the obvious choice, until another member decides to take one for the team.