To say that Tracey Yukich became the breakout personality of this season's 'The Biggest Loser' is an understatement. She polarized everyone on the Ranch with her aggressive game play, after spending the beginning of the season in the hospital. She also gained control of the game twice, wreaking havoc both times among the contestants.
Her journey, which was both bizarre and fascinating to watch, finally came to a close this week when she was eliminated over her roommate (and ex-rival) Liz.
Yesterday, Tracey spoke to the press, where she was grilled about her tactics in the game, her thoughts on being portrayed as the "villain" and her frightening trip to the hospital before she arrived at the Biggest Loser Ranch.
Here are some highlights from the call:
On her regrets:
"After I got back home and thought about what I did, I have no regrets. I really did everything I thought I had to do to make sure I stayed there as long as I could."
On no one cheering for her 11-pound loss in week three:
"I kind of went into my little cocoon mode. I chose to stay positive. Even through all the nastiness and negativity that was going around, I knew I was doing what I had to do to make sure that I could stay as long as I could."
On whether she was surprised to go home:
"[I knew that] If I ever fall below [the yellow line], I'm definitely on the chopping block, because of the choices I made when I got to the ranch. I did what I had to do to stay there, (and) I'm proud of myself for what I did."
On Shay not voting for her to go home:
"I was surprised that Shay wrote Liz's name down. Shay and Abby have a great relationship and looked to Abby as that mother figure. I am also a mother and I think Shay expected me to go into that mode with her. But I didn't when I was there ... with any of the contestants. I felt like it was important for me to take care of myself."
On how she felt on 'The Jay Leno Show' when he was reading emails about her:
"I actually write back to people on the internet that say bad things about me. I had a lady this morning say something bad about me, and I wrote back to her and I said, 'Thank you for writing to me. I hope that you stay a fan of the show. There are lots of people that are inspiring on the show and you should pick your favorite, even though it's not me. But I will pray for you and you have a wonderful day.'"
On what happened on the beach:
"I had a heat stroke ... [It was] the perfect storm ... My core temperature got really high. There were a lot of factors: I had not eaten enough, or drank enough; It was very hot outside, [and my] adrenaline was going. The fifth one: Believe it or not, being on your period is like another perfect storm for having a heat stroke ... I was about 104 [degrees]. I started losing mobility in my legs. I was confused. And I went to the hospital. I was scared that I wouldn't be able to go back on the show."
On her stay in the hospital:
"I swore to myself, laying in that hospital bed, if I get out of this bed and make it on the show I promise you, meaning I'm promising myself, that I will do everything and anything I can to stay there as long as I can. And that's where the game play began."
On that "weird" day, in which she won the golden ticket challenge:
"The wind did kind of blow, and I looked over at [her partner] Mo, and he looked at me and it was kind of freaky, and I was like, 'Okay, what's going on here? There is no way in the world!' I thought I was gonna have some cake. When it landed on the golden ticket, I was baffled. Then I was really scared. I'm just starting to build these relationships and now I've got to do it all over again."
On future plans:
"I really would like to go into more fitness nutrition. I love to cook and I'm constantly making new recipes. I could totally see myself doing a cookbook later ... If something came up in television, I am on it because I would absolutely do that. I'm a huge fan of the Food Network ... I do have one major goal that I am definitely going to achieve. I'm so tired of seeing all of the skinny-thin models on Shape m,agazine. They need someone on the [cover] who's really made a difference, who's really changed their life, and I want to be that girl."
-- Jason Hughes
