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On The Biggest Loser Sidelines with Coach Mo Dewalt
by Troy Rogers
 The
Biggest Loser Second Chances saw the contestants
head into week five of the popular NBC series
more healthy than they were in the first week
of the new Biggest Loser competition. Although this
season of The Biggest Loser has been all about
second chances, the latest season of Biggest Loser
ranch activity has also been about sacrifice and
falling on the sword to keep another Biggest Loser
team member in the game.
Much like Antione and Sean sacrificed themselves for Daniel and Shay, this week the kindhearted and humble Coach "Mo" Dewalt sacrificed himself so Tracey, this season's Biggest Loser villain, could remain at the ranch for another week. Although fans of The Biggest Loser were surprised and would rather see Coach Mo in the Biggest Loser competition instead of Tracey, that's just the kind of guy Coach Mo is, someone who puts others in need ahead of himself.
Shortley after Coach Mo was sent home from The Biggest Loser ranch after a good, life-changing run within a second chance, we caught up with Coach Mo Dewalt to see what he loved most and least about his time on The Biggest Loser, how he felt about his teammate Tracey, whether tension was truly high at The Biggest Loser ranch, and what Coach Mo thought of the lack of support at the final weigh-in.
THE DEADBOLT: What did you enjoy most about the ranch and what did you like the least?
 COACH
MO: The least was definitely having to send
someone home; the gameplay. These things were
definitely the worst ever. I never wanted to
do it in the first place. I refused to do it
and I even thought of picking me somewhat because
I was very timid to write someone's name down
and I didn't want to. I didn't want to stick
that on someone else's pain. So I just said,
"I'm not going to do that." So that was the
worst.
The best was - There's so many things. The people on the show, the caring people, they really cared about my health. The contestants, we were a loving group of people that really actually cared about one another. I was just so blessed to begin from that I can't begin to pick one particular thing. There was just so many positive things that are wonderful on that ranch.
THE DEADBOLT: How did you and Tracey decide on a strategy, because from what we saw, it looked like she was just making her own decisions out there?
MO: You know, she would tell me what she thought and then she would ask me for my opinion. I would give her my opinion and she would say, "Okay, well, what do you think about this?" And I would tell her. There was no real strategy. It was actually taken away from us when she had to decide on the teams. So Tracey didn't get a chance to talk to me about who she wanted, but she knew that I wanted Bob as my trainer. She knew that and everything else was basically Tracey's decision and I told her, "Anything that you do - I'm your partner, I will back you 100 percent. I will never come back on you, so just do what you think is best and I will back you 100 percent."
THE DEADBOLT: After the first day when you ended up in the hospital, what were you thinking?
 MO:
Am I in this bad of shape? Basically, I was
refusing to go to the hospital. It was the EMS
and the show's request that I go, and I said,
"Okay, I'll go. But I won't stay." And when
I got there, I ended up staying a few days.
So I was trying to figure out what is wrong
with me. How can I be in this bad of shape?
It kind of set into reality when they said,
"Okay, Mo, this is where you are. So what are
you going to do about it?" So I said, "Okay,
it's time to go to work."
When I got back, everybody was so far ahead of me and I had a weigh-in coming, and I said, "You know what? I'm going to work." And it was hard for them to keep me out of the gym, because I was still under restrictions and I would do things in my room. I was trying to find hiding places to do some sit-ups or push-ups or something just to try to get myself so I could stay at least another week, and I think that's why I lost 19 pounds. So it was very difficult. I was afraid that I was going to go home because I only had a couple of days to workout.
THE DEADBOLT: From watching at home, the tension appeared very thick around Tracey. How bad was it actually on the ranch?
 MO:
I don't think it was as bad as it seemed. I
think that, again, having control over other
people's [game] and Tracey was definitely taking
control. I think that they felt she was doing
it just because she wanted to and that was the
kind of person that she was. No, I mean, she
was panicking. She was in a place of sheer panic.
She was worse than I was. She couldn't workout,
she couldn't go to the gym, and she couldn't
do anything. She just had to eat and drink to
try and get her strength back and that was difficult
for her.
She didn't want to go home, she wanted to lose the weight. So I kind of felt a protective mode come in. I wanted to protect her and I wanted her to experience this. Everyone should experience the ranch, every single person that is overweight and unhealthy. I mean, she wasn't as bad as it seemed on TV. She just made decisions and people were upset, but she did well.
THE DEADBOLT: I was just surprised at the last weigh-in, because I think that was the first time I didn't see anyone cheer.
MO: That was the second time, actually, and I made a comment about that. I said, "I thought this was supposed to be inspirational to people and not one person clapped for this person who lost an amazing amount of weight under all of this pressure." I didn't realize that it happened again last night, so it was unusual. I thought that if anything was unfair and not right, that wasn't right.
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