Revisiting the '80s and The Biggest Loser Families with Coleen Skeaback
By Troy Rogers

After seeing her father Jerry leave The Biggest Loser Families a few weeks ago, Cleveland receptionist Coleen Skeaback was left on her own to battle both the pounds and her competitors, as the families were separated. Coleen saw Brady fall victim to elimination at the hands of Amy, who she admired for taking a stand, but in the end also earned Amy's vote to become the latest evictee in the '80s themed Week 9 while also losing the least amount of pounds.

With The Biggest Loser Families now an individual competition and a final weigh-in behind her, we caught up with Amy Skeaback the next day to find out how her life has changed, how she dealt with the volatility in competition, her feelings on Brady, who she thinks will win, and how her dad Jerry is living a healthier life after his time on The Biggest Loser.

THE DEADBOLT: What’s the biggest change in your daily routine since you left the ranch?

COLEEN SKEABACK: I’d have to say probably the fact I wake up, I have my breakfast, and I get moving. Before the ranch I would kind of get up whenever, just kind of lounge around the apartment all day long and not really be active. The biggest change for me is that I’m very active. I’m very much on the go. The things people want to do with me is: "Hey you, want to go walk with me?", "Hey you, want to go for a bike ride, a run?" So I would have to say the biggest change is that I’m active now.

THE DEADBOLT: How well do you think you would’ve done on your own if you had stayed? I mean, since there were no more teams after last week.

COLEEN: Yeah, we were individuals at that point. I personally felt that I could’ve been a finalist. And it’s a hard game once you get individually because you've kind of got to make sure you have the votes behind you. But I had the support of the black team and I think that us three together, even though we were individuals, could’ve gone far.

THE DEADBOLT: Going back to last week again, where did all of the negativity toward Phil come from?

COLEEN: I have no idea, honestly. Like I said before, I just really try to stay away from the drama. I think Phil is a very kind man. I never had any problems with him and he looked at me like a little sister. So I had no negative feelings towards him. So I’m really not sure where the anger came from.

THE DEADBOLT: It just seemed to be turning really vicious in there, at least that’s how it looked.

COLEEN: It was not fun, I’ll say that. I know it sounds like I’m beating a dead horse, but I honestly - It’s such wasted energy to focus on that, so I never [did]. Jillian said, "Don’t focus on it, it’s wasted energy." So I didn’t put my energy there, I put it into the gym.

THE DEADBOLT: What did you make of Amy’s decision last week to vote for Brady instead of Michelle?

COLEEN: When Amy voted for Brady last week I thought - I wanted to jump up from the elimination table and give her a hug because that truly was her taking a stance for herself. And although, like Bob said on the show that night, it put her on an island. But, who cares? She was making a stand for herself and that’s what we were there for, to make changes. And she made an amazing change and I’m so proud of her.

THE DEADBOLT: You mentioned your plans for a new wardrobe. Are you going to pick up any ‘80s workout gear?

COLEEN: [laughs] Well, you’ll be happy to hear that I have my ‘80s workout gear from the show and I wore it to an ‘80s boot camp and everyone loved it and they couldn’t stop laughing. But I won a costume contest there. We had an ‘80s boot camp and whoever had the best outfit got to pick a workout and they didn’t have to do it. So I picked the most painful arm workout, and everyone wasn’t liking me at that point, but it was a lot of fun. And my boyfriend thinks I’m crazy when I put it on.

THE DEADBOLT: Who do you see as your biggest competition for the finale?

COLEEN: Oh, there’s so many. With everyone being at home right now, there’s so many people. It could be anyone. Honestly, I can’t even pick anyone out. Brady and I were always in competition with each other and I think Philip is doing pretty good, and Adam, all of the guys, and we got some great girls at home, too.

THE DEADBOLT: What about your dad? Are you competing against him?

COLEEN: My dad and I are trying not to make it a competition thing between each other because we love each other so much. But I need to make sure his butt’s in the gym and he’s making sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. My dad is just such a loving person. He went into this game with blinders on. You know, he caught the last four episodes of season five, bless his heart for going, but he never really got into competition sense of it. And I’m just happy that he got healthy, because I really didn’t see him getting healthy any time soon and I’m just so thankful for that aspect of it.

-- Troy Rogers
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