Celebrity Fit Club: Part One: Fit Club. Part Two: Life!
Finale Recap by Donna Emery
October 3, 2006
This week on Celebrity Fit Club, they were all a bunch of losers. - which made everyone a winner!
Sure, there were prizes, and there were overall winners. But all of them lost weight, over the last 100 days. And all of them have made a significant transformation to their lives.
The show began with the host, Ant, reviewing the sometimes-tempestuous season. Ant has grown on me, as a host. I think my problem has been in seeing him be serious. I find his comedy amusing, so seeing his somewhat serious side has taken some time. But now, at the end of the season, I can say that he has proved himself as a narrator, and he and his fashionable suit and sky blue tie were a fittingly nice addition to the finale’s "dressed up" atmosphere.
After recapping the season’s highlights, Ant reminded the celebs that the grand prize was worth $150,000, and that Tina and Erika were vying for the individual prize.
Carnie Wilson was up first, for her final weigh-in. She’s struggled with her weight for most of her life. She’s gone up over 300 pounds and down to the 140s after her famed gastric bypass. But having a baby put on some weight and she hadn’t been able to lose it without Fit Club’s help. At the beginning, she had started strong, but after being voted off her original team her weight loss had stalled. After weeks of struggle and a maddening plateau, it took a lie detector test to restart her weight loss.
This week, she went from 168 to 166. Though she didn’t meet her 4-pound target, she said she was happy and proud. Linda played a tape of Carnie’s dad, Brian Wilson. He said he was proud of her, and loved her. Carnie was momentarily speechless after the tape, but eventually said she was grateful for his love and for the support and encouragement of the panel.
She said the show has taught her that it’s about "progress, not perfection." When asked by Linda to give advice to those who see her as a role model, she said "be happy with who you are, and where you are at right now. I am happier now at 166 than I was at 146 because I am happy with who I am today." She thanked the panel, saying she knew they had wanted them all to succeed.
The challenge this week was to see how far they had come, in 100 days. Harve brought them all back to the track where they’d taken their initial fitness tests. He said that the team with the overall biggest improvement would win a special prize.
They began with pushups. Ted showed his usual one-upmanship and didn’t bend his knees, despite being allowed to. He was impressive, but Erika had the most pushups, with 80.
Jumping rope was next. On day one, Vinnie hadn’t been able to jump at all, but he was able to do it now – to his own happy surprise. Erika had the most jumps, and topped the list again with 160. But it was Vinnie who improved the most.
In the long jump, Tina looked impressive when she vaulted to 11 feet, but Nick topped her at 12. This looked like a clear winner, but Ted wouldn’t let Nick win, and went to 13’4". "I live to beat Nicky," he crowed.
The quarter-mile run was next. Ted won the race, but Erika had improved the most. Angie was also impressive. The stars doused themselves with water, to cool off, at the end of the competition.
In the end, though the Blue Team had improved 22%, the Red Team had improved 26%. The Red Team won! They each won a unique "Harve Award". It looked like an Oscar. In addition, the Red Team had also won a 5-pound credit on the scale.
To top off the challenge with a tangible lesson, each of the celebs were told they had to carry a knapsack filled with "fat globs" – plastic renditions of fat. Each would carry the amount of weight that they’d lost. All of them felt the impact of that extra weight, and were glad it was gone. Angie was especially overwhelmed; thinking of how that extra weight had affected her heart.
Back at the weigh-in, Vinnie was asked how he felt. He told them he felt like a new person. During the season, he’d started strong, but had found it hard to stick to his diet. He’d hit a slump, but had come back strong toward the end. This week, he went from 248 to 245, for an overall loss of 29 pounds.
"I was negative at first, but I had to learn to trust the panel, "he admitted. " I found it hard to trust people, and this is something I have now learned to do again." He apologized to Linda for doubting her, and she responded with her usual warmth and a hug. She said that she’d seen he really wanted to be there, for his daughter Renee. Vinnie admitted that Renee was special to him, and credited her belief in him as part of his motivation. Harve said he’d earned his respect. Vinnie said he’d wanted to quit many times, but didn’t want to let his team down.
Erika was next. As a former "Baywatch Babe", Erika had been under a lot of pressure to look "hot". Her competition with Tina was also a motivator. During the season, she showed consistent effort and determination. But when she’d done a photo shoot, she realized that she really didn’t look like she wanted to. Now, in her size 2 clothes, she was much happier with the some new photos. This week, she went from 129 to 121. That’s a total of 31 pounds, and she shed tears of joy and pride. Dr. Ian said she’d revved up the competition between her and Tina, and had lost 20.4% of her weight. She said that she feels like she’s already won.
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