Bob Harper’s TBL Blog: Another Heartbreak for Team Dolvett!

Let’s talk about digital distractions as a temptation. When I found out that the average American spends approximately 11 hours in front of some sort of computer device, I was blown away. Many forego time that could have been spent working out. An excuse that I often hear is that they just don’t have time, but it’s all about reprioritizing your schedule. Turn the computer off, put down the phone and get to the gym.

The first challenge of this episode was amazing! The teams had to run an obstacle course while playing a game of “telephone.” Team Dolvett was the first team to go and Richard had a plan to make a seven-word sentence using the first letter of the color and keeping it in sequence. He spent so much time doing it that I was nervous that night thinking that he was taking a big risk. But his plan ended up working to their advantage. Team Dolvett won the challenge and they were faced with a decision: Picking between exclusive rights to the gym all week or getting to be in constant communication with their families this week. The choice was especially hard on Jacky because her team ended up choosing the gym and her heart broke into a million pieces because she fought her way through that challenge with one thing in mind, getting to talk to her kids. Team Jen was extremely happy, especially Lauren, because they got the prize that the other team didn’t choose—speaking to their families all week.

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During the workout for Team Jen, Colby opened up about his father’s suicide and it was extremely heartfelt. This is when I really saw a turning point with Colby. He really does seem to be opening up and when someone does that in the house, their lives start to take a turn in the right direction. Team Dolvett was super-excited to have the gym to themselves this week. When it was time to go into the weigh-in room Team Dolvett was extremely confident that they had this weigh in in the bag, and that was a good thing because this week there was no elimination room and no yellow line. There was a red line. The person with the lowest percentage of weight loss on the losing team was eliminated immediately. The weigh in was close but Team Jen was victorious thanks to Colby and his 12-pound weight loss! It was great to see how excited he was with that number and it was extra special that Colby had such emotional growth this week. Unfortunately for Team Dolvett, Survivor veteran Richard Hatch was the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss and it was time for him to go home.

As we jumped right into the next episode, we started with a little twist. It was time to change up the teams, which is always a dramatic time in the house because you definitely can get very attached to your trainers and your teams. I think the most dramatic part of the switch was separating the twins. Luis and Roberto are very close and being on two different teams was going to be difficult. Also, Sarah was very attached to Jen and now both Sarah and her father, Rob, got moved to Team Dolvett. After the teams got switched, we found out if they were going to be able to work together in a very grueling challenge. Each team raced to solve a puzzle that involved moving 15-pound puzzle pieces from point A to point B, climbing up and down high storage units and then putting together the puzzle to reveal the prize—a 3-pound advantage at the next weigh in.

Team Dolvett, and especially Jacky, struggled during this challenge. Team Jen seemed to have a bit of an edge because their communication seemed to be a little stronger and they ended up winning the challenge and the advantage.

Jen and Erin had a very emotional talk where Erin opened up about her eating disorder and the demons that live inside her head. There were also some definite growing pains with the changing teams—Lauren felt like her position on her team was changing. She was used to being the strong female on the team and now Erin was changing the dynamic.

Then it was time for our Last Chance Challenge. I’m really enjoying this new addition to our show because it lets me be a coach. This challenge was basically a relay race of running on the treadmill, riding on the assault bike and then ending with the Jacob’s ladder. When the race started Team Jen was killing it. It all boiled down to the Jacob’s ladder with Toy for Team Jen and Felicia for Team Dolvett. Toy had a tremendous head start but as soon as Felicia got on, that was all she wrote. Felicia burned down that Jacob’s ladder and Team Dolvett won the challenge and earned a 1-pound disadvantage, which cut Team Jen down to a 2-pound advantage instead of 3 pounds.

This was the first weigh in with the new teams and everyone was nervous, including Jen and Dolvett, and there was another dreaded red line. The weigh in was another close one and it all came down to Sarah on that scale for Team Dolvett. Unfortunately, she fell short, Team Dolvett lost another weigh in and Sarah went home. It was very sad because Rob wanted to fall on the sword for his daughter so she could stay but Sarah wouldn’t have it. She said she was going to go home and show everyone that she would be able to do this on her own. I love Sarah and hope she comes to the finale looking amazing!