The Deadbolt Interview - Fear and Loathing on The Biggest Loser with Tracey Yukich

Fear and Loathing on The Biggest Loser with Tracey Yukich
by Troy Rogers

The latest season of The Biggest Loser has been an emotional roller coaster of Biggest Loser second chances filled with self awareness, self realization, and self improvement. But the latest season of The Biggest Loser has also produced some of the fiercest competition as Biggest Loser competitor, Tracey Yukich, reminded both fans and her Biggest Loser ranch mates that The Biggest Loser is as much about strategy as it is about leading a healthy lifestyle. Although Tracey received the support of her Biggest Loser competitors early in the game after being hospitalized, including her Biggest Loser partner, Coach Mo, Tracey soon found herself virtually alone in the competition when she chose to approach The Biggest Loser with a win at all costs mentality. As a result, Tracey Yukich became one of the most memorable Biggest Loser villains of all seasons of The Biggest Loser.

Although Tracey rubbed some of her ranch mates the wrong way with her Biggest Loser gameplay, even having to endure stone cold Biggest Loser silence during a weigh-in, Tracey had a fighting spirit that kept her in game as one of the strongest Biggest Loser competitors of the season and a fierce Biggest Loser force. Despite the fierce gameplay, Tracey couldn't maintain the weight loss needed to remain at The Biggest Loser ranch and fell below the yellow line this week, which ended the memorable run of Tracey Yukich as one of the most talked about Biggest Loser contestants in years.

The next morning we caught up with Tracey for a follow up chat about her time on The Biggest Loser in which Yukich revealed the reasons behind her gameplay, her fears of leaving The Biggest Loser too early, what she learned from Jillian Michaels, and how Tracey was affected by the lack of support during her Biggest Loser weigh-in.

THE DEADBOLT: Going back to day one, were there any fears that you wouldn't be able to stay on the show? Can you walk us through exactly what happened?

TRACEY YUKICH: Well, what happened was: I had a heat stroke and Dr. Huizenga called it the perfect storm. A lot of people working outside landscaping, or even running at home, are susceptible to heat stroke. It's common, it happens, and it's very dangerous. So that is what happened to me. My core temperature got really high and there [were] a lot of factors. I hadn't eaten enough, drank enough, it was very hot outside, and adrenaline was going. And the fifth one, believe it or not, Dr. Huizenga said was being on your period is another perfect storm for having a heat stroke.

THE DEADBOLT: Oh, wow.

TRACEY: [laughs] I know. Who would've thought? So those five things come into play and that's what happened. My core temperature got really hot and I was about 104 and I started losing mobility in my legs. I was confused and I went to the hospital. I was scared that I wasn't going to be able to get on the show. To be honest with you, I'm lying in the hospital, crying my eyes out, thinking I can't believe this has happened. For one, I'm very competitive and I think everyone that watches television and saw me on the show knows that. There was nothing you could tell me I couldn't do. Even though I was heavy and had four kids, I would always go that extra length to keep up with them. And I'm married to a marine. My husband only retired a few years ago but I used to run with him. So there was never a "no" in my book that you could tell me and I was struggling in the hospital and I did have that fear that I wasn't going to be able to go back.

I remember Todd Lubin came to my hospital room - he's a producer on the show - and he said, "Tracey, do you want your husband and kids to come, because they want to come visit you? Your husband is extremely worried about you." And I looked at him and I was apprehensive, and I said, "You know what Todd? If my husband comes here and sees me, he's going to make me go home. I need to stay here. So if I get out of this bed and I start fighting to walk, will you let me back on the show?" He said, "Tracey, I have no control over that. You're a team now with Coach Mo and we will have to see how things play out." So it was literally praying every day like Coach Mo. I hope this works out and if it does then this is my chance.

That's why when I'm on the show and everybody sees me on TV, I swore to myself, laying in that hospital bed within those four white walls and nobody there and sitting there by myself, I swore to myself, "If I get out of this bed and I make it onto the show after three times of trying out, after standing in the rain for fourteen hours, after being a contestant one of sixteen out of 500,000 all across the country, if I make it on the show, I promise you - meaning I'm promising myself - that I will do anything and everything I can to stay there as long as I can." And that's where the game play came in.

THE DEADBOLT: What did you learn from Jillian during last night's episode?

TRACEY: You know what I learned from Jillian? Jillian was really mad at me, I'll tell you that. For a long time she was really ticked at me for playing the game. She didn't realize at the time that I was doing what I had to do that I felt was necessary for me to stay there. What I learned from Jillian was that it's okay to ask for help, because - You guys didn't see this last night, but just before Jillian and I go up the stairs and I look at her and say, "I can do this. I can do this," we had been doing these stairs for awhile. And stairs are huge for me after the mobility in my legs was not that great. You can probably see a lot of wobbling on television. But stairs for me were just huge. Running was [also] big for me.

The Biggest Loser She taught me that it was okay to ask for help, because just before you saw her and I get ready to go up those stairs, she giving me her hand - and this is probably an hour before what you guys saw - she's handing me her hand and saying, "Take my hand." And I'm like, "Oh no, I can do this on my own." She's like, "TAKE MY HAND! I am here to help you. It is okay to ask for help." And I literally smacked my hand over into her hand and she took my hand and we did the stairs up and down, up and down, up and down, and then finally what you saw on television last night was her going beside me and me doing them on my own.

But Jillian taught me that it's okay to ask for help and it's okay to feel vulnerable. Jillian is a control freak just like I am and she actually told me that. She said, "I can't believe you and I have so much in common on this level." You know, I did feel out of control when I was there and I wanted to get some of that control back and it's okay to ask for help with that. She did teach me that and I'm very thankful to her for that and she and I talk about that now. When she called me this morning, her words to me were, "How are things going? What's going on at home?" We talk often either on the computer or text message. But that's always her word to me, "What is the control going on in your life? Are you controlling your workouts and your family? And how are you managing?" Because I am a mom of four and it does take managing in my life to stay in control of all of this and still be able to be in competition for The Biggest Loser.

THE DEADBOLT: Can you describe the vibe in the air during that golden ticket challenge? Mo mentioned that the wind changed and everybody seemed to know you were going to win.

TRACEY: You know, I get that question a lot. What people don't see at home is, I spun that wheel three times. The first time it went around, it landed on something someone else already got. So it was empty. Then the next time it went around, it didn't go all of the way around and Alison said, "Tracey, if you don't spin it all the way around this time, you're going to lose your turn." So I really gave it my all and spun that wheel, and the wind did kind of blow, and I looked over at Mo and he looked at me and it was kind of freaky. I'm like, "Okay, what's going on here?" Then I stood there for a minute and Alison is giving me that look of, "Oh, my gosh!" I kind of thought to myself, "There's no way in the world."

There's all of us standing out there, we're all going to be eating cupcakes, and I thought I was going to have to eat cake. Honestly, what did I say on TV all of the time? "Did you eat some cake?" I thought I was going to have some cake. When it landed on the golden ticket, I was baffled, and then I was really scared. I actually teared up for a minute - "How is this happening again? I just ate cupcakes like a week ago and everyone is really ticked at me and I'm just trying to build these relationships. Now I have to do it all over again?"

I'm standing there with Alison and she turned around, because I'm like, "I can't do this." I just felt my heart was beating so fast and that I was breaking everyone's heart by splitting them up. And Alison said, "Tracey, this is your game, too, and this is time to look out for yourself." Then it went to the interview, "Tracey, you got to stop trying to please everybody. You're a people pleaser. You have to please yourself." So that's why I stacked the teams the way I did and I did what was best for me and Coach Mo.

THE DEADBOLT: Also, during the weigh-in when Mo was voted off, how much did it affect you when nobody cheered?

TRACEY: Oh, when I lost the eleven pounds?

THE DEADBOLT: Yeah.

TRACEY: You know, I remember standing up there - [laughs] - That was a pretty dark in the hole moment. I stood there and no one clapped. Even Alison made the comment, "You notice there's no cheering and clapping?" And I told her, "Of course there's not." Do you know what I did? I just kind of went into my little mode. I call it my cocoon mode. Because the whole time I was there on the ranch, I always said, "Tracey, you're going to be in this cocoon. But by the time you come out, trust me, you're going to be a butterfly." I was always trying to remember that. I was going to stay in my cocoon and nothing is going to get me down.

You don't see me talking bad about anybody on the show. I didn't do it. I chose not to. I didn't have any ill will towards anyone there even though I really did get creamed a lot. But I just chose to stay in my mode and stay positive. And when you see me in the weigh in room, I'm always smiling. I chose to be that way because I think it was better for me. Even though all of the nasty negativity was going around, I just knew that I was doing what I had to do to make sure that I could stay as long as I could.

When everyone at home looks, "This is the second chance." Well, you know what? This is my second chance. This is mine. Mine. I didn't have anybody else there to take care of, just me. That's what everyone fails to realize - "You're on The Biggest Loser. You're being so mean. You backstabbed everybody." No, I didn't. I took care of myself. I did for the first time and it felt great.

-- Troy Rogers