[CyberTOPS] Another The Biggest Loser article! OT

[George Hughes, Jr.]

LA Times reports:

For fans of the show, though, Michelle's victory was all the more
sweet because it came at the expense of Vicky and Heba....

Heba, you may recall, came into the house as a bit of a bully -- make
that a big loud bully -- who immediately began throwing her weight
around to get her way. (Blame it on her husband, Ed, who apparently
spends his life trying to do everything he can to make/keep her
happy.)

She created divides and alliances in the house, and was the first to
turn the tables on a competitor -- and then spent the rest of her
time at the Biggest Loser ranch complaining bitterly and loudly at
any smack of game playing that didn't suit her purposes.

Well, Heba finally got hers. Kinda.

In an odd twist of fate, Heba and Ed ended up competing for the third
spot in the finals. The decision was left up to the public to vote
between the two. Ed, being the dutiful husband, begged America to let
his wife win. Heba also begged America to let her win.

America gave her the backhand: In a "landslide" vote, 84% of the
votes cast were against Heba.

Heba didn't go home empty-handed, however. She was eligible for and
won the $100,000 runners-up prize for losing 138 pounds, or 46.94% of
her body weight.

In other words, if she had curried a little more favor with the
public, she would have landed the third-place spot -- and she would
have won.

Afterward, asked why America voted against her, she said "I guess
there are just a lot of negative people out there who don't like to
see success." (Heba, who said she wanted to join the show to lose
weight so she could have a healthy pregnancy, said family planning is
on hold for now: "I want to spend a summer where I can wear a bathing
suit and not feel bad about myself. Call me when that's over.")

Vicky, meanwhile -- who was dubbed by trainer Bob Harper to
be "Shakespearean" in her efforts to manipulate her teammates --
missed winning the $250,000 prize by 1 pound.

See? There is justice after all.

In an interview after the show, Vicky said she was unfairly depicted
on the show. While she said the producers could have portrayed her
positively as a mother struggling to balance work and family and
improve the health of her two children, they chose to portray her as
a schemer.

To hear her tell it, it was all camerawork.

She has been so widely reviled that she had to change her phone
number because she was receiving death threats, and to this day
continues to receive letters telling her what a horrible person she
is.

"Most people hate my guts," Vicky said, later adding that perhaps so
many people disliked her because she was a determined competitor who
knew what she wanted and wasn't about to let anyone stand in her
way. "Women need to be strong and they need to use their heads."

She also added: "I feel bad for the people who are writing those
letters. They don't know me."

On a completely unrelated note:

It's impossible to say whether Vicky was misportrayed or not
(although the fact that Mr. Nice Guy Bob Harper called her out for
being manipulative suggests that she doth protesteth too much.)


Merry Christmas!!!!

George :)