Occasionally people ask me why we cry so much on Loser. While this question always makes me laugh the truth is that as contestants you get very, very close to one another in a special, family sort of way. The closeness is so unique – it’s like few things I’ve experienced in my life – and although you remind yourself that Loser is a game, you’re not really playing it but living it, which is why it’s very emotional and upsetting when contestants such as Meaghan are suddenly sent home.
It’s hard to believe that on Friday night Meaghan was in second place in the Super Challenge. But when she had to choose between a long set of stairs and bungee jumping to the canoes below, she became crippled with an immobilising fear that ultimately cost her her place in the competition.
I understand that sort of fear because I’ve experienced it too in the same situation but for a slightly different reason.
For my honeymoon, my husband and I travelled to New Zealand and, in addition to the typical sightseeing, we decided that we both really wanted to try bungee jumping. I was scared of heights but really wanted to do it, so we drove out to the location, paid our money and got into the bungee queue. But soon after I was struck by a crippling fear that makes it easy for me to empathise with Meaghan…
To complete the jump not only would I have to be weighed (to get the rope length right) but my weight would be written in black texta on my arm for everyone to see. I was over 100kg at the time and not even my husband knew how much I weighed… so I started to panic. There was a weight restriction too, so on top of being ‘exposed’ I also feared being rejected for being too heavy.
Embarrassment at having to acknowledge how much I weighed far outweighed any fear of jumping so I did what I used to do all the time when I was overweight – back out of it. I pretended that I was really scared and couldn’t go through with it.
It was a very sad moment in my life, and I suspect Meaghan will look back on her aborted jump as a sad moment too. Not that she should, however, because she proved she embodied the true spirit of the game when, at the end of the challenge, she chose the worst calorie option to seal her fate and protect Sammy, who was a faithful friend and waited for at the canoes.
Meaghan has played the game very hard of late but her actions last night highlight some really important and special things in life, i.e. the importance of friendship. She’s young and it’s nice she gets that. Her Loser memories will be with her forever and if she doesn’t let it block her in the future, she’ll look back on the bungee incident as an amazing life lesson.
Speaking of blockages, my heart goes out to Nathan for what can only be called a shock horror island weigh-in. His gain of 1.3kg is, from memory, the first gain of this competition. Time is running out for the ‘young bull’ and if he is going to get back ahead of Bob he needs to be super disciplined and keep a highly accurate diary between now and the final weigh-in.
Back at the Camp, it was great to see Tiff outgun Sean to not only win the weigh-in but also take the top spot on the leaderboard. That girl just keeps going from strength to strength and I hope she can make it all the way to Finale.
I am fearful for Sean, though. Although Cam also dropped below the yellow line last night and is definitely a bigger threat due to the amount of weight he has to lose, I reckon the alliance will stick by the alliance and send Sean home.
You’ll have to tune in tonight at 7PM on TEN to see if I’m right or wrong. And keep an eye out for my daily update in your inbox tomorrow morning.
Episode 61 highlights
If you missed last night's show, you can watch the full episode at The Biggest Loser TV show website.
Below I've shared the segment where Meaghan is sent home – it embodies the true spirit of Loser and why this 'game' is so unique and wonderful.