'The Biggest Loser' Winner: It's Ali Vincent's time

Ali bested the boys -- and conventional wisdom -- to become the very first female to proudly call herself  "The Biggest Loser."

Fans had a big say in the outcome of tonight's live finale on NBC: They voted online to decide whether Mark or Roger should be the third finalist to compete for the prize along with Ali and Kelly. The thinking going into the evening was that a victory for Roger -- the former football player who started the game at 363 lbs. -- would mean defeat for Ali because Roger still had so much weight to lose.

But conventional wisdom was dead wrong.

Roger reached the finals, but conceded that he'd hit a plateau when he and the other contestants left "The Biggest Loser" ranch and continued to work on their own at home in advance of tonight's final weigh-in. In all, he lost 164 lbs., or 45.18% of his body weight.

Ali, too, conceded some challenges -- including late-night visits to the freezer for a frozen yogurt fix.

But in the end, her "warrior mentality" -- dating back to her days as a championship synchronized swimmer -- served her well. Ali entered the game at 234 lbs. Looking trim, toned and plenty confident, she needed to lose only 105 lbs. to upset Roger -- and she handily passed that benchmark as she weighed in at 122 lbs. In all, she lost 112 lbs., or 47.86% of her body weight.

And there's another number staring back at Ali: She takes home $250,000 for her troubles.

The other finalist was Kelly, a nurse whose struggle with obesity prevented her from having children. She started at 271 and lost 109 lbs.

Bernie took home $100,000 for being the "Biggest Loser" among the contestants who were eliminated from the ranch, but continued to lose weight at home, on their own.

It's too soon to say whether Ali's victory will quell criticism that the NBC reality show is biased in favor of men, who seem to lose weight so much more easily than the women. Some have questioned whether the show should create a second category -- so that one woman and one man can take home the title each season.

Jillian Michaels, Ali's trainer, has dismissed that notion, saying it would be a cheap victory. Prior to Ali's weigh-in, she offered this message for women struggling to lose weight: "Make impossible your favorite word. Invite the challenge."

-- Rene Lynch

Comments

[Cherie]

Congrats to Ali and all the Biggest Losers! Whats important here is how the BL has motivated millions of people around the world to live a more healthy lifestyle (including me)

[Katie Poole]

I just want to say I am tremendously excited. I have been waiting 5 years to see a woman win "The Biggest Loser". Ali congradulations for a fantastic result. I know the work you had to go through to get where you are today.

I am inspired to continue on my quest. You are truly motivational.

CONGRADULATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Patricia]

I am excited for Bernie and Ali, but I so wanted Kellie to win. She is so an inspiration to all of us at my house that watched the show. I can honestly say that she is the reason we watched the "WHOLE" season instead every other week to see where everybody was.

Roger was awesome too.........

[Melissa]

Why wasn't Paul at the final show? I wish the show would have addressed him!

[sherry]

I am happy for Ali's win, but she lost the majority of her weight at home, not on the ranch. There for Roger was the biggest loser from the Ranch.

[Shannon]

Melissa,

They did address Paul last night. It was mentioned that he was sick and was not able to be at the finale. They mentioned that at the beginning.

[Rochelle]

Congratulations to Ali! She has a great attitude. I appreciate Roger's southern hospitality towards everyone, he is a gentleman. I hope that all the contestants continue to lead a healthy, active lifestyle.

[Carol]

The show did address Paul. They said he was sick and too ill to travel.

[Tony Rago]

What happened to Kelly's partner for the finales? Did he not have the dicipline after he left the ranch?

[Amy]

They did address Paul. Allison said that he was too sick to make the trip for the finale, but he was at home cheering for Kelly.

[hollie]

I loved watching the Biggest loser
How did Ali and Kelli lose 11 and 13lbs in one week especially towards the end of this..Do you have to exercise 24 hrs a day? I wish I could do that..

[rose]

not that i didn't want a woman to win. I did but it just seemed like they hyped this whole season and the whole finale for woman winner. Makes me wonder if she didn't get some extra help along the way for the win. I found it very hard to believe that in her last week on the ranch being so small already - that she had lost 11lbs. That made me think the fix was in. They needed a woman winner to satisfy women viewers. It just seemed all a little to coincidental. Everything fell so perfectly into place for a woman winner. I knew going in that a woman would win.

[Nancy]

Congratulations to Ali! Kudos out to Kelly, Roger and Mark as well for making it to the final four. Let's not forget Bernie! He was one of my favorites from the beginning. Thank you for putting your weight loss struggles out there for all of America to see. You are all a true inspiration to the viewing audience!! By the way, congrats to Curtis, health insurance is such an important part of the American dream. May we all continue toward a healthier, happier life. Impossible is now going to be one of my favorite words!

[WDH]

Personally, I think the fix was in right from the start... both for Ali and Bernie. They wanted a girl to win right from the start, so they set it up for Ali to come back in, and then manipulated it week by week to ensure that she would never be in a position where she could potentially voted off. No way she lost that much weight each week!! You could clearly see it. it was pretty obvious that she was going to win it when she came back. Every clip they played of her had her saying how she was going to win it..
And really, who can trust a scale that goes up, down, up, down.. someone is manipulating it so that the people at NBC and BL make it more interesting and controversial.
I seriously doubt that Roger won the voting, and I think he did lose more percentage of weight than Ali, but theye played with his number on the scale and played with hers as well. I seriously doubt that Bernie lost more than Mark did also, but Bernie was more likeable so they made sure that he won.. by one pound!
I'm disallusioned by the show because of all the manipulation and deciept.. they think people are too niave and gullible to see it.. or they don't care. I will not watch it again.

[Lisa]

Am I the only person who finds it strange that people are losing 150 pounds in four and a half monthes? I mean without some sort of help medicinal help it would seem impossible. I know that they are working out eight, ten hours a day but you are talking about people who are not all twenty years old. Is it just me?

[Missy]

Congrats Ali,
You are my hero! She has truly inspired me in my goal to lose weight. Good luck to everyone who worked hard in their journey to losing weight and keeping it off, because it is a life change that will make a difference.

[Dee]

Everyone wins who participates in the BL show. Did you see how much happier all of them were to lose the weight they did! The outcome isn't as important as what it does for their self esteem and how they inspire others. Congratulations to all the winners and contestants! This is the only reality show worth watching!

[Sandy]

I was reading the comments and was saddened to see that people thought the show was geared towards a women winning. I think you are missing the whole purpose of the show it is to teach people to eat health and exercise. This is the problem with this country..........everybody looks at the negitive first!!!!!!!!!!!

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE ON THE SHOW! YOU ARE ALL WINNERS IN MY EYES!

[Mia]

Ali looks amazing! It's about time that a woman won! It's a sweet victory.

Ali lost 112 pounds. 33 of that was lost at home, so yes, she is the biggest loser of the ranch.

And if it had been left to the girls for a final vote, Roger wouldn't have made it to the finale. It would have been Mark.

[PJ]

I read that the weigh-in scale is not a real scale; they just use that for effect. And obviously, the numbers going up and down is completely fake, but meant to remind people of their own shifting on the bathroom scale to get a lower number. What you have to remember is that these people are doing nothing but working out, watching their diet, and working on the emotional problems that led them to self-medicate with food for most of every day of that six months. It's totally unrealistic to expect to lose that kind of weight so quickly in the real world, since most people can't devote 8 or more hours per day to addressing their weight problem. However, the show is inspirational and demonstrates what you can do with a lot of hard work, perseverance, and changing bad habits. The other aspect is that most of these people are sedentary and have terrible eating habits when they start. They lose a ton of weight quickly because they are on a restricted number of calories, drinking only water (no more soda), and moving much, much more than they ever have in their lives. Roger was especially impressive to me, since he consistently put up such huge numbers every single week.