On last night’s premiere of The Biggest Loser, the contestants arrived on campus the competition kicked into gear right away. The duos found out that their successes and failures would rest on each other since they would have to compete in pairs, not teams, as they had originally thought. Among those pairs were a father and daughter from Ohio, Lynn and Jenni. At the age of 62, Lynn was the oldest competitor this season and struggled with some of the physical aspects of the show. He gave his daughter a hard time about working out and left her alone in the gym before the weigh-in. Despite his refusal to work hard, he dropped 19 pounds but when Jenni only lost 7, it wasn’t enough to keep them above the yellow line. The other teams felt Lynn and Jenni weren’t on the same page and they became the first team eliminated. Today, they talked to BuddyTV about their elimination and life back home.
Below, you will find the complete mp3 and transcript of the interview.
Hey everybody. This is Gina from BuddyTV and today, I’m talking to Lynn and Jenni, contestants from The Biggest Loser season 5. Have either of you tried out for The Biggest Loser before, or is this your first time?
Jenni: This is the first season we had tried out, and my dad had never seen the show when I asked him to try out.
Jenni, when you first approached your dad to try out for the show, what was his reaction?
Jenni: Well, at first he said, “I don’t know. It’s a weight-loss show,” and then my step-mom had said, “You know, you should really do this.” And, so then he was all ready. It was only about 24 hours later, and then we were standing in line to try out
Lynn: Yeah, she only gave me a two-day window to go down and try out.
Lynn, was there any part of the show that you were unprepared for or that caught you off-guard?
Lynn: Having to climb up the hill that first episode, climbing up that hill to run to our trainers, that really wore me out. And as the week went on, we got a little bit more in shape, so we could drag those balloons around the field. I’m in better shape today than I have been ever.
That’s great. Can you talk a little bit about what life has been like since you’ve been home?
Lynn: Jenni works out all the time and I just started dieting. I was too busy, I didn’t work the workout into it, but now my wife just bought me a trainer and I’ve joined a gym, and I’m going every day now.
Jenni: I think that as far as the team goes, he was a lot better at the eating and I was a lot better at the fitness. I still struggle with what I’m going to eat because I get bored or tired and I don’t want to go home and cook for myself. It’s so much easier to go through the drive-thru, but I don’t. But working out at the gym for five hours is nothing for me. I can do that all day.
Now, it really seemed like you wanted to stay and your dad was okay with going. What conversation did you two have after you were eliminated?
Jenni: After those final interviews, our conversation, there really wasn’t any for a good 12 hours afterwards. We didn’t really have anything to say.
Lynn: There was a conversation after we found out that we were in the bottom two and we went to the elimination room, and that was a lot of conversation.
Jenni: But, when we came home, the trip home was hard, but after that, I just started getting on Dad about the fitness. And everyone else was on him as well, and I don’t think he was expecting that. And, it was hard for him, and we were very hard on him, but then now, he’s really gotten with the program. I’m very pleased to see that, I really am.
Lynn: I’m pleased with you too, Jen.
Jenni: Thank you, Dad.
And, how is it being home and being away from The Biggest Loser. I know you were only there for a week, but did you feel like you had to face any struggles going home to your regular life?
Lynn: Well, yeah. The first Monday I was home, I had to leave on a cruise on a business trip and I had to confront the buffet. I didn’t gain any weight that week and I didn’t lose any weight that week. I worked out every day on the cruise ship and was very selective with what I ate and I filled a journal the whole time.
Jenni: At the campus, you know, you can’t leave the campus and go for a drive and go to McDonald’s. But once you get home, you can do whatever you want. But it’s up to you on what the final results are going to be. You know, all my friends were out drinking and eating whatever they want, and I can’t do that because that one beer will screw me up for weeks. It’s not worth it. It’s just not worth it.
Were there any twists on the show this season that really surprised you or caught you off-guard?
Jenni: The strangers was something that I was really shocked at because I’m thinking to myself, how can two complete strangers work together as a team? You don’t know what buttons to push, you don’t know what their breaking point is. It was very strange. But I think that Brittany and Bernie worked very well together that week.
Lynn: Yeah, they did.
Were you surprised at the divorced couple? Because I was really surprised that Paul and Kelly wanted to go on the show together.
Jenni: I got really close to Kelly while I was there. Paul comes off as a very…like, he goes for shock value, you know? And Kelly is very reserved, and so it was a funny combination because everything that came out of Paul’s mouth was very embarrassing to Kelly.
Lynn: He didn’t think first before he talked.
Jenni: Yeah. But they’re just the sweetest. I mean, they get along very well as exes, especially with people who I believe have significant others at home. So, that has to be a hard thing, but I was surprised that a divorced couple would choose to spend this time together. You were spending a lot of time with this person.
Lynn: That was a good twist to the show.
And what are the two of you doing in preparation for that live finale? Are you guys working extra hard?
Lynn: As of today, January 2nd, I went into competition mode. We’re going to work out every day, and we’re watching really, really the calories. We’re watching the fat, and we’re watching the carbohydrates. And I’m working with my doctor and my trainer on this.
And Jenni, how about you?
Jenni: Oh yeah. I’m really stepping it up. I’ve been purposely training with a different person every day, and I think that my gym is going to get on board and really try to focus everyone, kind of like a village, helping me. And, you know, the finale is not the finish line. I mean, this is forever. I’m still going to have to work out every day even after April. I’m still going to have to watch everything that goes in my mouth because old habits die hard. That’s for sure.
Well, I just wanted to thank both of you so much for your time. Good luck, and we’ll see you at the live finale in April.
Jenni: Thank you.
Lynn: Okay, thank you.
– Gina Scarpa, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
