Hall of Fame Moment: The Biggest Loser 7’s Mike Gives Up His Prize

The seventh season of The Biggest Loser has had some pretty down moments. We’ve seen one player get arrested, we’ve seen one player cheat in a marathon, and we’ve seen the show cheapened so much by product placement and filler that one episode ended on a cliffhanger because the advertising was more important to the producers than the results.

But amongst all this drudgery there has been one shining example of everything right about this show, Mike Morelli. Originally forming half of the Brown team with his father, Ron, Mike came on the show as the youngest player of the season at only 18 years of age.

From the beginning of the season, there have been two major themes with the duo. Ron, as his father, has been a mixture of pride and shame because of his own weight, but also because he allowed his sons to become obese as well. As Mike has progressed through the season, Ron has become increasingly the proud papa.

For Mike, his story arc has always been about going that extra mile, be it in the gym, helping his teammates and opponents, or shouldering the load to lose even more weight, because Ron’s knee injuries have stymied him.

In Week 9, the newly formed Black and Blue teams met for a challenge at a Los Angeles food pantry. Mike and the Black team won the challenge, which involved building food kits to be distributed to local charities, as well as loading them on a delivery truck.

The team’s prize was huge. They got letters from home, exposure in a national ad campaign, and most importantly, a year’s supply of groceries from the challenge’s sponsor.

During the celebration, Mike noticed sisters Aubrey and Mandi consoling each other. Both of them have large families, and Aubrey even intimated to the cameras that she depended on food pantries when she first started having children. The two sisters were on the losing Blue team, and Aubrey was especially devastated.

The next day, Mike did something wholly selfless. He went to Aubrey and gave her his grocery prize. His reasoning was simple. He’s entering college, where he’ll be studying to be a surgeon. He doesn’t need free groceries for a year. He’ll have dormitory food readily available year-round. It’s a nice prize, but he simply doesn’t need it. Aubrey does, so he gave it to her.

This one moment, no more than five minutes out of a two-hour show, is the exact embodiment of what The Biggest Loser is supposed to be about. It’s about improving life, and about the pure humanity deep within all of us, no matter what we look like on the outside. Mike saw a clear cut situation, and acted upon it in the most selfless way possible.

As Mandi and Aubrey cried over the challenge loss, Mike’s team celebrated. Right then he knew what he had to do. Though this show is a competition, they’re all in this together. Someone has to win and someone has to lose, but this isn’t a football game or a weekend competition amongst friends. This matters to all of them, and he realized it’s important for everyone to improve their lives on this show. Yes, someone has to lose each week, but that doesn’t stop the loss from hurting and it doesn’t give you free reign to gloat.

Aubrey began using food pantries when she was a single mom raising two children. Now she is married and raising five little ones. She needs all the help she can get. Mike is a college student and now a gym rat, as he calls himself. If anything, there was no one on the show who needed that grocery prize less than him. So he knew what to do. It was a no-brainer, and he didn’t hesitate to do what he knew was right

After Aubrey thanked Mike, she told him her story of needing pantries, which she had kept private before the show. She then went downstairs and told the rest of the Blue team, including Ron. The look on Ron’s face was absolutely priceless. He just sat there, taking it all in, smiling from ear to ear. The pride he felt was palpable, even through the TV screen.

Mike’s act was simple, yet heartfelt. But more than that, it showed a maturity far beyond his 18 years. The youngest contestant on the show acted with the integrity and moral fiber of someone twice his age. The strength of character he possesses and has shown throughout the series would make any parent proud, and this moment was the icing on the cake.

I mentioned in the recap I wrote for this particular episode that I got a little choked up watching it the first time. I still do. If I were Ron, I’d be smiling just as wide. As I said then, if I’m ever fortunate enough to have a child with half of Mike’s character, I’d consider myself a successful parent.

The main objective of The Biggest Loser is to lose weight and win money while doing it. On a deeper level, it’s about changing your life and doing what’s right to remain healthy. Ron has instilled in his son since childhood the importance of doing the right thing, and in this case, Mike delivered in spades. Even though he’s the youngest contestant on the show, he’s shown the wisdom of someone much older and acted with the exact humanity and selflessness that this show strives to portray. It’s all about doing the right thing, and Mike is the perfect example.

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Bill Hammon has no joke or story this time. He’s still just smiling at this moment. You can reach him at loismustdie1982@yahoo.com.

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