OLIVIA WARD, A 35-YEAR-OLD OPERA SINGER AND OFFICE MANAGER FROM NEW YORK CITY, LOST 129 LBS. TO BECOME "THE BIGGEST LOSER" AND GAIN $250,000 AT LAST NIGHT'S LIVE SEASON 11 FINALE ON NBC
Winner's Sister and Teammate, Hannah Curlee, Named Runner Up, and Denise "Deni" Hill, a 59-Year-Old Mother of Eight, Wins "At Home" Prize of $100,000 Among Eliminated Contestants
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - May 25, 2011 - Olivia Ward, a 35-year-old opera singer and office manager from New York City, became "The Biggest Loser" and won $250,000 at last night's live season 11 finale of NBC's popular series. Olivia began the season weighing 261 lbs. and lost 129 lbs. She weighed in at finale at 132 lbs. and lost 49.43% of her body weight.
In an interesting twist, Olivia and her 32-year-old sister and teammate, Hannah Curlee, were two of the finalists. America voted to determine who would be the third finalist. In the first part of the live finale, viewers learned that Irene Alvarado, a 27-year-old student from Portland, Oregon, had beaten Jay Jacobs, a 53-year-old entrepreneur from West Orange, New Jersey, to become the third finalist.
The runner up among the three finalists was Hannah, a human resources representative for a healthcare company in Nashville, Tennessee. She began the show at 248 pounds and weighed 128 lbs. at the finale. She lost 120 pounds and 48.39% of her body weight. Coming in third place was Irene, who lost 116 lbs. and 45.49% of her body weight. She started the show at 255 lbs. and weighed 139 lbs. at finale.
The winner of this season's $100,000 "at home" prize among eliminated contestants went to Denise "Deni" Hill, an administrative assistant and mother of eight from Bountiful, Utah. Deni started the show at 256 lbs. and ended at 131 lbs. She lost 125 lbs. and 48.83% of her body weight.
Last night's finale of "The Biggest Loser: Couples" averaged a 3.1 rating, 8 share in adults 18-49 and 8.1 million viewers overall, earning the show's strongest 18-49 rating in 16 weeks (since February 1) and biggest overall audience in nine weeks (since March 22), according to preliminary fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen Media Research. "Biggest Loser" was up 7 percent versus one week ago in 18-49 rating (to a 3.1 from a 2.9) and up 19 percent versus two weeks ago.
"The Biggest Loser" is a production of Reveille LLC, 25/7 Productions and 3Ball Productions. Ben Silverman (NBC's "The Office," "Ugly Betty"), Dave Broome ("Shedding For The Wedding," "Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope"), JD Roth ("MasterChef," "Flying Wild Alaska"), Todd A. Nelson ("Unan1mous," "Beauty and the Geek"), Howard T. Owens ("MasterChef," "The Buried Life") and Todd Lubin ("30 Days," "Nashville Star") serve as executive producers.
For embeddable clips and full episodes from "The Biggest Loser," please visit NBC.com's official show site: http://www.nbc.com/the-biggest-loser/
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