Don't ask how she knew, but she did. When she was in line at the audition, when she was cast on the show, and even when she was eliminated,
Ali Vincent knew that she was going to be the first female Biggest Loser. She started this season, competing alongside her mother, and weighed in at 234 pounds. Ali and Bette-Sue were voted out in week 4 but a twist in the game gave Ali the opportunity to return. As the female contestant who had lost the highest percentage of weight back home, Ali returned to the game with even more passion than she had before. At the finale, she weighed in at 122 pounds, shedding over 47% of her body weight. Today, amidst a whirlwind press tour, Ali took time to talk to BuddyTV in an exclusive interview.
Below, you will find the complete transcript and mp3 of the interview.
Hey everybody. This is Gina from BuddyTV, and today I'm talking to Ali, the winner of The Biggest Loser season 5. So tell me what this week has been like, because I can only imagine it's been craziness for you.
Oh my goodness, it's been the whirlwind of my life. I've never been to a live show, and it was absolutely insane, like what I imagine fight night to be. The energy in the studio was amazing, and I was just like oh my gosh, this is crazy. I stood behind that big poster of me, and they're saying all this stuff, and I can't really hear anybody, but I've got my fist up. I was like, “I’m gonna punch through this girl once and for all”. That was my last sane thought! Oh my gosh, it's been a whirlwind, absolutely just running on adrenaline. I've been back and forth across the country, I've been on all these radio stations, I've been doing like three different photo shoots, I was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, I was on The Today Show. It's just absolutely insane.
I just think it's so amazing how, when you were eliminated in the fourth episode, you knew you were going to come back and be The Biggest Loser. How could you have possibly known that you were going to achieve that goal? Is that something that you just saw in your future?
From the beginning, even in the line I just felt something through my body. I just knew I was gonna make it to each step. I knew, but I didn't. I mean, I never knew, but I felt it in my body like, oh my God, this is happening. Oh my God, I think I'm supposed to be the first female Biggest Loser. First, it was just something I said, and I wanted it, and basically, I was kind of faking it until you make it. I was like, "I'm gonna be the first female Biggest Loser! I'm gonna do it." Even in the interview process! In week four, when I read my letters from home from my siblings, and all the things they had to say about me, how they knew that I could do this, it was just pure heart. It was absolutely true for me that I'm gonna be The Biggest Loser.
Do you have anything that you want to say to your fans?
Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you, thank you so much. We don't film every day, so on the off days, we would go to 24 Hour Fitness to work out, in the end when we were able to get off the ranch. I would see all these people wearing the team pink shirts. I just let myself go, and I was on these machines and I would think about all the people watching and stuff. I really didn't want to disappoint anybody. I wanted to be able to have people that were going through this journey with me be proud and believe in themselves again, whatever that looked like. I really drew on that energy, I definitely did. I believe in collective consciousness, and I envisioned a vision. I had it down to what I was wearing at the finale. Even at the end, we knew that the winner would go on the press tour, I planned all my outfits. People would ask, "What are you gonna do?" And I was like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I'm going to go on The Biggest Loser, so I'll be doing this." I just believed it, and I created it, and I think that everybody having that vision of wanting me to win, or wanting a woman to win, it was with that help that I actually did it. It was way bigger than me. It was more energy than I could come up with by myself, and I just thank you. Honestly, thank you. I believe that this was because more people than just me wanted it.
Well congratulations again. Everyone at BuddyTV is so happy that you won. We finally have a female Biggest Loser.
Yay! Isn't it awesome?
Well I hope you get some rest this week.
I know, I will. I will, definitely. Thank you.
- Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)