MICHAEL VENTRELLA FROM BARTLETT, ILLINOIS, THE HEAVIEST CONTESTANT IN “BIGGEST LOSER” HISTORY, WINS NBC’S “THE BIGGEST LOSER: COUPLES” AND $250,000 AT LAST NIGHT’S LIVE SEASON NINE FINALE, AND BREAKS RECORD FOR MOST WEIGHT LOSS BY ANY CONTESTANT IN THE HISTORY OF THE SERIES

Plus, 29-Year-Old Koli Palu From Rohnert Park, California Wins The “At Home” Prize of $100,000 Among Eliminated Contestants

And SUBWAY® Restaurants Paid Season Eight Contestant Shay Sorrells $52,000 — $1,000 For Every Pound Lost Between The Season Eight and Season Nine Finales – And Offered Her A New Challenge To Earn Even More Money!

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. – May 26, 2010 – Michael Ventrella, a 31-year-old mobile deejay from Bartlett, Illinois, won NBC’s “The Biggest Loser: Couples” and $250,000 at last night’s exciting live season finale of the hit series. Michael began season nine as the heaviest contestant in the series’ history at 526 lbs., and lost 264 lbs., breaking the record for the most weight lost by any contestant in the history of the show. Weighing in at finale at 262 lbs, Michael lost 50.19% of his body weight to claim the prize.

Michael and Ashley Johnston, a 28-year-old esthetician/spa manager from Knoxville, Tennessee, 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 Daris George, a 26-year-old delivery man/salesman from Ardmore, Oklahoma, had beaten Koli Palu, a 29-year-old football coach and head of security from Rohnert Park, California, to become the third finalist.

The runner up among the three finalists was Ashley, who began the show at 374 lbs. and weighed 191 lbs. at the finale. She lost 183 lbs. and 48.93% of her body weight. Coming in third place was Daris, who lost 168 lbs. and 48.55% of his body weight. He began the show at 346 lbs. and weighed 178 lbs. at finale.

The winner of this season’s $100,000 “at home” prize among eliminated contestants

went to Koli Palu. He started the show weighing 403 lbs. and ended at 188 lbs. He lost 215 lbs. and 53.35% of his body weight.

Also in last night’s finale, Shay Sorrells, the heaviest contestant from last season (season eight), weighed in. Shay had received a once-in-a-lifetime offer from SUBWAY® restaurants during the season eight finale to earn $1,000 for every pound she lost between the season eight and season nine finales. She began her weight loss journey in season eight weighing 476 lbs., and weighed 304 lbs. by her December 2009 finale. In last night’s finale, she weighed in at 252 lbs., and SUBWAY® spokesperson Jared Fogle was on hand to present her with a check for $52,000 — $1,000 for every pound she has lost since December. He also surprised Shay with a new challenge: if she completes a marathon with him later this year, SUBWAY® will double that amount and pay Shay an additional $52,000.

Season nine of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” highlighted the second year of the Pound For Pound Challenge, a program that encourages Americans to lose weight nationally to provide hunger relief locally. For every pound of weight that participants pledge to lose, a pound of groceries will be delivered to a local food bank. Since the beginning of the season, nearly six million pounds have been pledged. To celebrate the success of the program, General Mills announced during the finale that they will donate a can of Progresso Soup or Green Giant vegetables for each pound of weight America pledged – totaling 17 million servings of food. People can still sign up through June 30 at www.PFPChallenge.com or www.BiggestLoser.com.

Last night’s finale of “The Biggest Loser: Couples” averaged a 3.8 rating, 11 share in adults 18-49 and 9.9 million viewers overall, to rank #2 in the highly competitive time period in adults 18-49 and most other key demographics behind only Fox’s “American Idol”-boosted lineup. This is the top-scoring “Biggest Loser” in adults18-49 since January 26 and in total viewers since January 19. “Biggest Loser” generated week-to-week gains of 23 percent in 18-49 (with a 3.8 rating vs. a 3.1) and 19 percent in total viewers (9.9 million vs. 8.3 million).

“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