JamesCrutchfield

(S09E01) That was fast. It seems like just last month we were crowning Danny "The Biggest Loser," and yet we're back at it already. The series returned to the "Couples" format for this ninth season, but that didn't stop them from finding even bigger contestants to throw at Bob and Jillian.

In fact, that was one of the first things the trainers talked about: how hard they were going to have to work to beat these guys into shape. Five contestants are weighing in at over 400 pounds, with one smashing Shay's record of 476 by coming in at 526 pounds. Two of those contestants are a set of twins weighing in at nearly a thousand pounds combined.

If being the biggest combined group ever wasn't embarrassing enough, the first thing these contestants learned was that their first weigh-in wasn't going to be at the Ranch. It was going to be in their hometowns. Outside and in front of all their friends and families. Welcome to The Biggest Loser.

To start the new season, the 11 teams were told that they would have to participate in their first weigh-ins at home, in public, in front of their friends and families.

Upon their arrival at the Ranch, the first challenge began. Teams had to pedal a combined 26.2 miles (the length of a marathon) on stationary bicycles. The last two teams to finish would not even make the journey to the house, and were told that they would be going home. It was Yellow and Blue, but they learned they weren't through yet. They had 30 days at home, and then they would face off against one another back on campus. The team with the highest percentage of weight loss would be allowed back in the game.

At the first weigh-in, it was the self-proclaimed "half-ton twins" who slipped below the yellow line. While both tried to sacrifice themselves for the other, it was James' knee injury that was considered, and he went home.