Last week began sweetly enough, with the smell of the temptation dishes making the (former) chocoholics of this year’s Biggest Loser swoon. There was a lot up for grabs – prizes, immunity and the choice of who would go head to head against each other for this week’s weigh-in.

Rick learnt about gambling the hard way when he ate several chocolate treats to take a spin at each of the three prize wheels and won exactly zilch. Lady luck was smiling on Dave, however, who won weights, a NZ adventure holiday and immunity. And of course, the power to pair up his fellow contestants.

We instantly felt sorry for Jarna and Lisa, who were pitted against each other for the rest of the week. These two work colleagues have grown so close at Camp Biggest Loser and it was horrible seeing them torn between their desire to stay and anguish at having to push each other below the yellow line to do so.

Lisa’s spirits were definitely lifted, however, when she had a visit from her loving husband and daughters, courtesy of Phil’s generosity. The tears of Lisa’s two teenage daughters as they kept tight hold of their mum showed they are definitely their mother’s daughters!

The head to head contest at the dramatically lit Olympic stadium for the next challenge was thrilling stuff. You could feel the contestants’ agony as they battled it out on treadmills, spin bikes, rowing machines and the like, and feel the losing competitors’ extra pain when they realised they were the ones who wouldn’t have any access to the gym or their trainers for the rest of the week. Ouch!

At Masterclass, Laurie Lawrence’s motivation came at the right time for Rick, who has wanted to go home. Speaking with Shannan in last chance training, Rick cemented his change of heart, when he realised he should stay in The Biggest Loser as long as he possibly can.

At weigh-in, Shannon's “absolutely ecstatic” smile at losing 7.1kg was a highlight, as was Lisa becoming the first female Biggest Loser of the week with her 5.68% loss. Of course, Lisa’s triumph meant her bestie was under the yellow line, along with Phoebe, Phil and Caitlin.
 
After Jarna’s elimination, the remaining Biggest Losers tackled a revhead challenge at Eastern Creek Raceway. They pulled V8 Supercar champion Craig Lowndes along in his car, plus did battle with tyre changes in a pit stop. Rick’s turnaround, attitude-wise, was obvious for all to see when Craig gave him the prize of a VIP racetrack experience for his efforts.