HELEN PHILLIPS FROM STERLING HEIGHTS, MICHIGAN WINS NBC’S ‘THE BIGGEST LOSER: COUPLES’ – AND $250,000 – AT LAST NIGHT’S LIVE SEASON FINALE

Plus, 64-Year-Old Jerry Hayes from Wheaton, Illinois – The Oldest Contestant In “Biggest Loser” History — Wins the “At Home” Prize of $100,000 Among Eliminated Contestants

UNIVERSAL CITY, California – May 13, 2009 – Helen Phillips, a 48-year-old retired retail manager and mother of two, won NBC’s “The Biggest Loser: Couples” and $250,000 at last night’s live season finale of the hit series. Helen lost 140 lbs. and 54.47% of her body weight to claim the prize. She started the show at 257 lbs. and ended weighing just 117 lbs.

Helen came on “The Biggest Loser: Couples” with her daughter, Shanon Thomas, who started the show at 283 lbs. and weighed 191 lbs. at finale, losing 92 lbs. and 32.51% of her body weight.

Helen and Tara Costa were two of the finalists and America voted to determine who would be the third finalist. In the first part of the live finale, viewers learned that Mike Morelli, a 19-year-old year old college student from South Lyon, Michigan, had beaten his father, 55-year-old Ron Morelli, to win a spot in the finals.

The runner up among the three finalists was Mike, the youngest contestant in the history of the show, who began at 388 lbs. and weighed 181 lbs. at finale. He lost 207 lbs. and 53.35% of his body weight. Coming in third place was Tara, a 24-year-old model/finance manager from New York, NY, who lost 155 lbs. and 52.72% of her body weight. She began the show at 294 lbs. and weighed only 139 lbs. at finale.

The winner of this season’s $100,000 “at home” prize among eliminated contestants went to Jerry Hayes, a 64-year-old retired engineer and grandfather from Wheaton, Illinois.
He lost 177 lbs. and 47.97% of his body weight. He started the show weighing 369 lbs. and ended at 192 lbs. He and his wife, Estella, were the oldest contestants in “Biggest Loser” history. Estella began the show at 242 lbs. and lost 83 lbs., weighing just 159 by the finale.

The telecast scored a 4.7 rating, 12 share in adults 18-49 and 11.8 million viewers overall, according to “live plus same day” fast affiliate-based ratings from Nielsen Media Research. “Biggest Loser” generated NBC’s highest-rated Tuesday night in adults 18-49 since December 6, 2005. And it’s the highest-rated “Biggest Loser” telecast in adults 18-49 since the finale of the third “Loser” cycle on Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006 (see separate release).

Tonight, at 9 p.m. ET, this year’s winner will make an appearance on QVC. Season five “Biggest Loser” winner Ali Vincent will also appear on QVC throughout the day and for “The Biggest Loser” broadcasts at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. ET. She will offer signature items from “The Biggest Loser’s” healthy lifestyle product line that have helped her keep the weight off a full year later after becoming the first female winner in the show’s history.

This season, “The Biggest Loser” partnered with General Mills and Feeding America to launch the Pound for Pound challenge, an initiative that encourages Americans to lose weight and feed the hungry. For every pound viewers pledged to lose, a pound of groceries was delivered to a local food bank. Due to the success of the challenge, more than three million pounds of groceries are being delivered to local food banks across the U.S. And the challenge is continuing! For every pound people pledge to lose this summer, up to one million pounds, General Mills will help Feeding American deliver a pound of groceries to local food banks. Viewers can make pledges through May 31, 2009 at www.biggestloser.com.

“The Biggest Loser” is a production of Reveille LLC, 25/7 Productions and 3Ball Productions. Ben Silverman (NBC’s “The Office,” “Ugly Betty“), Dave Broome (”A Model Life with Petra Nemcova,” “Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope”), JD Roth (”Age of Love,” “Beauty and the Geek”), Todd A. Nelson (”Unan1mous,” “Beauty and the Geek”) and Mark Koops (”American Gladiators,” “Shear Genius“) serve as executive producers.

Source: NBC Press Release