NBC’S “THE BIGGEST LOSER: COUPLES” HELPS KICK OFF THE WINTER GAMES WITH A STAR-STUDDED, OLYMPIC-THEMED SPECIAL EPISODE AIRING TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9 (8-10 P.M. ET)

Contestants Head to the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs to Train with Gold Medalist Alpine Skier Julia Mancuso, Freestyle Skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson, Speedskater J.R. Celski, Pairs Figure Skater Rockne Brubaker, Paralympic Gold Medalist Alpine Skier Alison Jones and Paralympic Biathlete Kelly Underkofler

Plus, Olympic Gold Medalist Figure Skater Scott Hamilton Helps Out at a Tennessee Food Bank During This Week’s Pound For Pound Challenge Segment

UNIVERSAL CITY, California – It’s a star-studded Olympic-themed episode of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser: Couples” on Tuesday, February 9 (8-10 p.m. ET) when the hit series kicks off the Olympic Winter Games with guest appearances by several superstar athletes. Olympic gold medalist and alpine skier Julia Mancuso, freestyle skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson and speedskater J.R. Celski guest star, along with pairs figure skater Rockne Brubaker, Paralympic gold medalist skier and silver medalist cyclist Alison Jones and Paralympic biathlete Kelly Underkofler. “The Biggest Loser: Couples” will be pre-empted by the Olympic Winter Games after the February 9 episode, but will return on Tuesday, March 2 (8-10 p.m. ET).

This week, the contestants get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live and train like Olympians at the U.S. Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Colorado Springs, Colo. After arriving at the training center, host Alison Sweeney tells them they will now be competing as individuals – and that this week, two players will be eliminated instead of one. The contestant with the lowest percentage of weight loss will be eliminated automatically, and then one of the two players who fall below the yellow line will be sent home as well.

Helping to welcome them to the training center is five-time Paralympian Alison Jones, who has won a gold medal and two silver medals for skiing as well as a silver medal in cycling. After each player gets a chance to carry the torch down the Olympic pathway, Jones lights the cauldron and the games begin!

First they find a great surprise waiting for them in each of their rooms, and then they head to the OTC dining hall, where they meet with two U.S. Olympic Committee nutritionists and learn what America’s top athletes eat during training. Then it’s off to the gym, where trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels are joined by gold medalist alpine skier Julia Mancuso and freestyle aerial skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson to help put the contestants through a workout they’ll never forget. Meanwhile, one player struggles with feelings of unworthiness about whether last week’s eliminated contestant deserves to be in the competition more than he does.

Next up, the contestants meet Sweeney in the gym for a fun pop challenge involving slide boards while first-time Olympian and short track speedskater J.R. Celski gives them a pep talk and cheers them on. Then it’s off to the beautiful Garden of the Gods state park, where they meet with Paralympic biathlete Kelly Underkofler. She puts the contestants through a “Biggest Loser” version of the biathlon, one of the most difficult challenges in the Olympic Winter Games.

Finally, it’s time for a last chance workout at 24 Hour Fitness with two-time U.S. figure skating national champion Rockne Brubaker. Then their exciting week comes to an end with the weekly weigh-in, and two more players headed for elimination.

Olympic gold medalist figure skater Scott Hamilton makes a special appearance in this week’s Pound For Pound Challenge segment, volunteering his time at the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. Hamilton will be a commentator for figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games. Viewers can go to www.biggestloser.com now and for every pound of weight loss pledged, a pound of groceries will be delivered to a local food bank. More than 3.7 million pounds have been pledged to date.

“The Biggest Loser: Couples” 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 (“Breakthrough With Tony Robbins,” “Shear Genius“) serve as executive producers.

Source: NBC Press Release