As the playing field dwindles along with the pounds on NBC’s The Biggest Loser Families, the dynamics of the team element continues to be shaken up. This week, after a shocking twist and strategic temptation contest that saw the contestants test their will power and gameplay while in the dark with a nearby table of goodies, the teams and remaining single family members faced a leadership challenge by Heba, who ate the most sweets and won the chance to split the teams up. After splitting up Amy and Phil, Heba then separated the mother/daughter team of Shellay and Amy. When it was all said and done this week, Amy bid an emotional farewell to her mom Shellay, who was this week’s evictee.
The next day our own Troy Rogers rummaged through his closet and donned an old pair of ’80s Adidas, a skin-tight red tracksuit, and a bright blue headband to prepare for a call with this week’s Biggest Loser Shellay Cremen. After dusting off an old VHS tape of the Jane Fonda Workout and cranking up the theme to Flashdance, Troy hit the phone line with Shellay to find out what was behind the reasoning to see her go, why almost all of the guys have gone first, and how life has changed for her since returning home from the ranch.
THE DEADBOLT: How many times did you want to quit during that mountain hiking challenge?
SHELLAY CREMEN: Well, I was so totally surprised by that because from the road it looked like it was going to be so easy, and when we got up there I wanted to quit probably right after I ran past the flag. And besides, we had heavy boots on and army pants and it was so hot I thought I’m not even going to live thought this one because it was grueling. And I was having the problem with the breathing because of the altitude. So, honestly, I thought I was not even going to make it, that I’d be going out on a stretcher. But Amy was just so encouraging to me and I thought I cannot let her down, you know. And if she hadn’t of been, I don’t think I would’ve made it.
THE DEADBOLT: I meant the one where you hiked all day.
SHELLAY: I thought you meant the first episode. Oh, in that one, that one started out really easy. Yeah, we thought that one was going to be nothing. We went up and down about three times and thought it was great. But the sun kept getting hotter and higher in the sky then that became tough. We weren’t dealing with altitude in that one, but it was hard. We did have a little bit of a break in there, but it was still very hard. I had a lot of confidence until the very end and Coleen was having issues and Renee was having issues and they said, ‘I don’t think we can make it back down.’ On that last time down the mountain, I thought ‘Oh, cool,’ because I was feeling like I couldn’t make it.
Then all of a sudden there goes Coleen running. She said she just had this burst of energy. Then goes Renee, then goes Philip, and I’m back there like, ‘Oh, my gosh, they’ve all left. So I have to go.’ So I started running and I’m running down the hill and every corner I turn there’s nobody there. And finally when I’m getting down to the end and they’ve all gone in, it’s like, ‘I cannot let this team down. We’ve got to get this picture with all..’ You know, I gotta be in it for that point. So yeah, I made it by the skin of my teeth on that last one.
THE DEADBOLT: What was behind the decision to send you home, because Renee and Coleen lost the same amount of weight that you did?
SHELLAY: I believe what it was – I mean, in what I’m thinking is that because I was the smallest, you know, I weighed the least of everybody from the first day, and getting Philip onto our team, Philip was heavier and we would be losing more weight than I would. I was more interested in breaking up Renee and Michelle’s alliance, because Michelle was such a basket case. You know, wanting to go home. So I thought if Renee goes home Michelle is totally going to fall apart and that would be good because she would end up going home. Not that I wanted her home, only in the game home, but that was my thought – is break up that alliance. And Philip had said the same thing. So we decided to vote together and Coleen was – I said, ‘Coleen, please. If you will vote for Renee, I promise you I’ll never vote you out unless you’re up against Amy.’ But I said, ‘Do what you gotta do.’
THE DEADBOLT: How has life changed at home since returning from the ranch?
SHELLAY: It’s totally different. My mother says I’m no fun. Yeah, she says, ‘You’re not any fun anymore.’ You know, because I’m doing the same things that she’s doing. I wake up everyday and I get right into workout clothes, and since I’ve been home I probably haven’t had normal clothes on more than ten times. It’s just my life is – I think healthy and I think working out. Get on my clothes and there I go, and my husband comes home and we workout together. I mean, he’s just totally shocked at me, because it’s something I’ve never ever had an interest in doing and now that’s like all we do – we eat and we exercise.
THE DEADBOLT: What’s your favorite healthy snack these days?
SHELLAY: Well, I have to say that it’s sugar-free Jello or sugar-free Jello pudding, with sugar-free Cool Whip. I’m kind of a creature of habit. I try not to vary too much because I’m afraid if I do I’m going to go too far. So I stick with that and that satisfies everything, because we have a lot of flavors to choose from [laughs].
THE DEADBOLT: How do you account for most of the men being eliminated early on?
SHELLAY: Well, it was just – Let’s see, it was the green team first, which was Stacey and Adam, and then the grey team, which was Tom and L.T., and I did vote for them. I don’t know if our vote showed or not, but only because if Coleen hadn’t of made the bet about her weight loss it would’ve been us, Amy and I and the grey team. So I felt that Coleen and Jerry deserved to stay, because they were there just because of the bet. So I thought it’s only fair to vote for the grey team. Then Jerry was having his issues with his health and stuff. And Ed we had heard that if you’re really tall sometimes it’s harder to lose weight, and Ed was big and tall. So I think he just – He and Heba falling below, it was just kind of their decision then to send him. But I think pink had a mark on their back and then we heard it was us from the beginning when people didn’t really know us.
THE DEADBOLT: Overall, what was the toughest part for you at the ranch?
SHELLAY: Pretty much the whole time. I don’t have a lot of lower body strength so it was hard just getting on the treadmill in the beginning. But I have some really strong upper arms and so I think anything that had to do with my lower body was very tough for me.
THE DEADBOLT: What did you think of Jillian’s style of training?
SHELLAY: Well, I actually wanted to have Jillian. She scared me to death about the first week. And she was yelling and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, I don’t know if I can do this.’ And she would yell and scream and then she’d say, ‘You know how many people would give their right arm to be here?’ And I would be thinking, ‘Oh, I wish I could get a hold of one of them.’ I was about ready to leave, you know. But, you know what? It worked. So I’m so thankful to her because it did, it got through to me.
I guess I just needed – My family here, we’re not yelling people. My husband and I never fight and the kids will swear to that. They can’t believe it. But we don’t have yelling and she just like got through it all. And I thought maybe that’s what I’ve been lacking, someone to really get it through my head, and I guess her screaming worked. So not so much that I liked, but I’m very thankful to her for what she did do.
THE DEADBOLT: How do you think Amy will do now that you’re gone?
SHELLAY: I think she’ll be okay. I told her, ‘You can only have a five minute freak out and then you have to pick yourself up and you know what you have to do.’ So I think she’s going to do good. She has amazed me because she’s so much stronger and athletic than I ever could’ve imagined. She can run on the treadmill, which is something, obviously, I can’t hardly do. But she’s amazed me. I really think that she, in my opinion, has a very good chance of winning.
The Deadbolt Interview – Life is ‘Working Out’ for Shellay Cremen After Biggest Loser Families
