Sunday night on The Biggest Loser I CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED as Lara was sent home at Elimination. :-(

Tonight on The Biggest Loser we find out how crushed Shannan is by the loss of Lara. Then the contestants, minus Lara, will start sailing from Sydney to Hobart. Without Lara.

Lara Lara Lara.

Okay, I’m done.

Before they set sail we’re going to have a revisit with the footage from the trainer’s stay at the homes of the contestants. Should be horrifying to watch, can’t wait!

Loungeroom sees Leigh looking pretty down. The trainers turn up and Tiff’s very excited to see Meg’s still there. Shannan’s shattered to see Lara gone.
Lara was the one who got them into the competition in the first place and she’s been their rock throughout, keeping them going.
Leigh says he couldn’t get many words out to her at Elimination but he thinks their bond is stronger than ever after everything they’ve been through at Camp. He loves her even more than he did before. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!

Shannan tells them all they need to remember where they’ve come from at this stage of the game and so they’re going to introduce some people they met about 9 weeks ago.

The Westrens are first up and Sharlene’s horrified by the way she looked and what she was saying to Shannan at the time.
She says she can see the pain and the unhappiness in her face now.
We get a replay of Shannan saying that Sharlene reckons she doesn’t eat anything and everyone laughed, even Sharlene had a chuckle at herself.
Sharlene says afterwards that she didn’t like the person she just saw. She was losing control back then. And when Shannan told her the truth about her situation she hated him. Because nobody ever said anything like that before. She apologises to Shannan who says it’s okay, it’s been worth it.

Now we see Leigh shovelling ice cream into his mouth and he’s shocked at how huge he was. And Shannan’s trying to chat to him and Lara and Leigh’s still shovelling ice cream. He said it’s weird, Shannan was there trying to save his life and he was still trying to kill himself.
He and Lara thought they were happy back then but he knows now that they weren’t really happy. They know the difference now.

Then we see Kellie chowing down on burgers and her kids eating takeaway as well. Steve’s telling Kellie they’re going to change it in the footage and they certainly have! She looks so much skinnier in “now” footage. She still has a ways to go of course but she looks so much better.
Kellie knows she was doing things wrong before. And the worst bit was that the kids were following in her footsteps. That’s going to change when she gets back.

After an ad break it’s time to see Meg again. Meg’s appalled by how big she was and the way she’d struggle even getting out of a chair. She’d get out of breath just chatting to Tiff on the couch.
She’s in tears afterwards. Tiff says Meg used to look so masculine in her work clothes and overalls. And after makeover she’s all pretty!

Then it’s Joe’s turn. Pictures of him on bikes and then sitting around the picnic table and being fat in front of the mirror. He says he wasn’t happy then, he was depressed and feeling crap.
Joe remembers how easy it was to lie about how much he was eating before coming on the show. But he has a beautiful wife and kids and now he knows he’ll do much better with them on the outside.

Last but not least is Sarah.
Sarah’s getting her gurn on already. Looking at the size of the bowl of ice cream she was serving up. We see her again saying that she doesn’t go out much anymore. Furthest she goes is her letterbox.
But she’s not that person anymore. She was really sad then and cracking jokes to cover for it.
Sarah says she felt stunning at Makeover Day.

Shannan says he wishes he could bottle the energy in the room right now. If they could bottle that and give a taste to everyone there’d be nobody overweight in the world!
Shannan’s seen the resolve of contestants falter after leaving the show so for the next couple of weeks they’ll be testing them a lot to make sure they’re ready.

But for now Steve and Tiffiny will be leaving them in the hands of Shannan and Michelle as they’re going for some off-site training.

The contestants turn up to a lovely wharf. Sun is shining, looks like a lovely day.
They meet Tony… Pokiss? I’m not sure. He says this is his playground but it’s not without its challenges. He’s done some very treacherous Sydney to Hobart runs, including one time when his boat rolled over in Bass Strait and he was stuck under it for about a minute and then spent sixteen hours in his cockpit with a broken leg and high winds and huge waves.

But that all paled next to standing four feet away from a suicide bomber in Bali. As a result of which he is now legally blind. He can’t see his wife’s smile, can’t help his son have his first shave, couldn’t see his daughter go to grad ball.
People said he wouldn’t be able to do the job on the water anymore but that was like waving a red flag to a bull and he’s since gone on to prove them wrong.

Sarah says that she always thought her life was hard but next to Tony’s? Maybe her life was hard because she was making it hard.

So they’re all going to go for a sail on Tony’s boat for training.

Soon as Sarah gets on the boat she says she’s a bit unsteady on her feet. She feels like she’s downed 12 shots of rum.
Leigh and Sharlene have been around boats for many years so they’re not having any trouble.
Kellie’s feeling sick. Sarah’s looking VERY sick!

First bit of training is raising the mainsail of the yacht. Working together on the ropes and the winch and getting the sail right up to the top of the mast.
Sharlene’s very happy that she’s able to help out a lot today as she wouldn’t’ve been able to in the past.

Now that they have the mainsail up it’s time to raise the jib.

Then they get to sit on the high side of the boat to do some counterbalancing as the ship heels over a bit.
This isn’t sitting too well with Sarah. She’s sitting there with her feet dangling over the edge and looking a bit green. Sharlene’s having a laugh and says to Mish that Sarah’s going to be sick.
Michelle laughs! Then she tells us that some of the contestants probably don’t want to be on a boat again for a year or so.

Little do they know!

Then it’s time to try tacking the boat. That’s where you all have to duck down under the mainsail as the boat turns and get onto the other side of the boat.

Shannan and Mish are super impressed by Sharlene today. She’s getting stuck right into it, scampering around the boat and helping at every turn.

Meg’s also realised something today – she really loves sailing!

Shannan reminds us they were all morbidly obese people 10 weeks ago and yet today they’ve thrown themselves into this and they’re happy to be living life.

Then it’s time to go back to the marina and as they pull in to dock they can see Hayley standing near some Biggest Loser flags.
But Hayley’s not normally at their training sessions…

Hayley says the sailing stuff they just learned is going to come in handy. She told them something huge was coming up and that time is now.
The six of them are about to engage in one of the toughest challenges in Australian sport – sailing from Sydney to Hobart!

Sharlene’s thrilled and says Craig will be green with envy as well as some of her friends.
Leigh wonders if Sharlene realises how hard it is and Shannan says it involves crossing Bass Strait! And Sharlene’s all, “Yeah! Bring it on!!!”

And they’re going to be leaving tomorrow!

Kellie’s horrified. She knows people have died trying to do this.

The six of them and Michelle and Shannan will board the Southern Excellence tomorrow and head for Hobart.
And it’s a proper racing ship, so don’t expect any creature comforts!
It will take them about four days, Hayley says. Meg is wondering when they get to sleep since a yacht runs 24 hours a day!

Sharlene’s still super excited though!

Shannan says this isn’t a challenge that’ll be over in a matter of minutes, it’s going to take a few days and it’ll push them to the limits.
Sharlene’s thrilled. Still! Saying her and her son will be talking about the trip for years to come.

David Burt is the skipper of the Southern Excellence. They also have a half dozen regular crew to help them get to Hobart safely.
They all get aboard the boat and shake the skipper’s hand and then David tells them to head below decks to stow their gear.

The sleeping quarters are… cramped. Leigh says he’ll struggle with it. Michelle thinks some of them will start to crack.
Sharlene’s still enjoying herself though. She’s hopped into one of the hammockbunks and is ready to go.

Shannan says sleep and food deprivation and the inability to get away from people will take their toll. This time he’s not just nervous for the contestants, he’s nervous for himself!

As they set off Michelle is still all bubbly and cheerful and enjoying herself.
But she has a chat with the contestants, telling them this will be the making of them. Shannan says all the pain and regrets of the past are going to be left behind in Sydney. When they step off the boat in Hobart, that’s all behind them.

Michelle has a hug for Joe and Leigh. And says to Joe that if she vomits on him she’s apologising now!
Sarah says nine weeks ago she’d’ve never been able to do that.

They’ve set up a buddy system on the boat for safety reasons. One contestants with one experienced crew so that nothing goes wrong.
Sharlene’s very pleased by her buddy – he’s a bit younger than her so she feels like a cougar. “Roar!”

Joe’s buddy is working the grinder with him as they raise the mainsail on the boat.
And this mainsail has the Biggest Loser logo on it. Spiffy!

Michelle and Shannan are relaxing at the wheel of the boat and Shannan says that this is probably their toughest challenge, too. Michelle says, “Poker face, buddy, poker face!!!” They both have a laugh.

Day One and they have great weather, everyone’s working hard and the skipper’s happy!
Get the feeling things are about to change…

Michelle says while sailing from Sydney to Hobart you’ve got to be on your game all the time and that’s a perfect analogy for when they get home.

Leigh says the worst job on the boat is the grinder. Grind a bit, grind some more, now stop, then grind, no stop, grind!

Sharlene’s hoping her time on the grinder will help fix her tuckshop arms!

Shannan and Sharlene are sitting up on the bow of the boat and Shannan asks if this new happy Sharlene is the real her and Sharlene says yes, she’s an adventure person!
Shannan tells her to stand on the front of the boat looking forward and shout that this is her life and so on.

Shannan’s pleased nobody’s been sick yet as they cruise past Nowra. But Sarah’s feeling very unwell though she’s yet to throw up.

As the wind picks up a bit the skipper decides to pull down the spinnaker as it’s a bit too strong. They hit a snag as it comes down and it blows out and they have to scramble to get the sail back in.

David says that seasickness is likely to be the most challenging thing for the contestants. It happens to most everyone, no matter how often you sail, he says.
And Kellie’s feeling it at the moment, crawling across the deck.
David says the most important part is how you deal with it, if you can continue being a productive member of the crew.

Kellie and Sharlene are having a chat and while Sharlene’s all grins she confesses to feeling a bit squirmy when she goes below decks so she’s had a few ginger capsules to fight the motion sickness.

Things have been pretty smooth so far but the next day they’re going to have to enter Bass Strait, one of the most dangerous channels in the world, Shannan says.
Michelle says this is no pleasure cruise and they’re at the mercy of the weather and that’s something you can never control.

And tomorrow night things seem to be going along well to start with… until a storm rolls in and they’re fighting to keep the boat sailing through it.

And yes, there will be puking!