'Biggest Loser' Season 9 to Premiere Jan. 5, 2010

With NBC's 'The Biggest Loser' once more proving itself to be a heavyweight in the ratings -- the season 8 finale racked up the the show's highest ratings in four years -- season 9 is already looking like it will tip physical and emotional scales more dramatically than ever before.

According to the New York Times, three of the season 9 contestants, including 30-year-old identical twins from Florida, will start out weighing more than 400 pounds.

Yet it is the third contestant -- a 31-year-old Chicago D.J. named Michael Ventrella -- who many eyes will probably be fixed upon first. Ventrella has set a new record for the show, becoming the first overweight contestant in 'Biggest Loser' history to start off at more than 500 pounds -- 526, to be exact.With NBC's 'The Biggest Loser' once more proving itself to be a heavyweight in the ratings -- the season 8 finale racked up the the show's highest ratings in four years -- season 9 is already looking like it will tip physical and emotional scales more dramatically than ever before.

According to the New York Times, three of the season 9 contestants, including 30-year-old identical twins from Florida, will start out weighing more than 400 pounds.

Yet it is the third contestant -- a 31-year-old Chicago D.J. named Michael Ventrella -- who many eyes will probably be fixed upon first. Ventrella has set a new record for the show, becoming the first overweight contestant in 'Biggest Loser' history to start off at more than 500 pounds -- 526, to be exact.

'The Biggest Loser,' which is currently in production on season 9, places a priority on the percentage of body weight lost each week, not on the actual number of pounds that are shed. Should he complete the season successfully, Ventrella may therefore have an opportunity to sail past the highest body weight percentage ever lost on the show. That record was set at the end of season 8, when 40-year-old Danny Cahill (pictured) weighed in at 239 pounds, down from 430, or about 55.6 percent of his total body weight.

Season 9 premieres Tue., Jan. 5, 8PM on NBC.