On Monday night’s season finale of The Biggest Loser, the sixteen contestants returned for a special reunion and a chance to weigh in one last time before the winner was revealed.
Going in to the finale, we knew that Roberto Hernandez, a physical/health/driver’s education teacher from Burbank, IL, and Stephen Kmet, a pharmaceutical sales recruiter from Hanesport, NJ, were two of the three finalists competing for the $250,000 grand prize.
After re-introducing America to the contestants competing for the $100,000 “at-home” prize, it was revealed that Colby Wright, a car dealership salesman from K’Ville, GA would compete for the grand prize with Roberto and Stephen.
Everyone looked absolutely amazing and dropped some serious pounds, but in the end, Luis Hernandez went home with the “at home” prize and his twin brother, Roberto Hernandez, won the title of “The Biggest Loser” after dropping 160 pounds.
CelebSecrets4U spoke with Roberto about his amazing transformation and his “Biggest Loser” title. Check out our Q&A below!
CS4U: So, what will you do with the money?
Roberto Hernandez: “You know what, I haven’t really thought about that. You know, from day one (Luis) and I decided that — even though it’s great thing, a great accomplishment — I never really thought about it because we decided that we were doing journey for the weight loss and not for the money. And you know, when it does come and I have it, I’ll probably do a little bit of remodeling of the house and buy a big rock for the wife — maybe something like that.”
CS4U: Last night when you got on the scale Bob said that you had to lose 150 pounds to win. It seemed like you almost had tears in your eyes, what were you feeling in that moment?
Roberto Hernandez: ” You know, my faith is really strong in me, with me, and it might not be the most church-going person but I believe in God and I believe in the Virgin Mary, and I believe in all the saints that provide – so, I was praying at that moment and in that particular moment I got a great feeling that I was going to win that and I definitely thought was God and the Virgin Mary standing next to me, putting their hands on my shoulders saying, “Roberto, you’re going to be okay. And even though I went in yesterday – even thought either winning or losing, I was already thinking in the back of my head, “You’re already a winner. Regardless of what happens right now, you’re already a winner. You’ve lost a 100 and some pounds and you’ve gotten great comments throughout the country from people that are getting up a doing what you said last week – last week’s episode.” And that was getting off that couch and moving. And so, in the back of my head I was just thinking, “You’ve already won and if you end-up winning this prize, you know, great, that’s just icing on the cake.” No point intended. But you know what, of course, I wanted to win that money and of course I wanted to be the Biggest Loser because I know that I can motivate more people and I can touch more lives. And I want to start with, you know, my family and then – and moving on as a — maybe possibly — a motivating speaker or something.”
CS4U: You know, you admitted that once you got home from the Biggest Loser ranch, you sat down on the couch which was exactly what you promised yourself you wouldn’t do. Before your son (Jacob) gave you the pep-talk to be strong and work hard again, I guess, how serious was that situation? Like where you actually close to sort of giving up and maybe even potentially putting weight back on or was it just sort of, like, a momentary laziness type of deal, like a little funk you got into or something?
Roberto Hernandez: “Well, at that point I was away from home for about 12 – about 15 weeks. And, I just kind of wanted a moment for myself, and to relax, and I was thinking that a week would have been okay. But this happened right away, it was maybe the third or fourth day of me being home, and Jacob wasn’t liking what he was seeing and thank God he gave me a little toy because that gave me the motivation to keep going. And he said, ‘I promised,’ he said, ‘Daddy you promised that you wouldn’t do this and here we are.’ And I get off that couch and started – got the other wheel rolling.”
CS4U: After winning the Season 17 title of the Biggest Loser, what are some things that you have learned throughout your experience on the show that you think will continue – that you’ll continue to incorporate in your everyday life now that you’re off the ranch?
Roberto Hernandez: “You know what, first and foremost as I am human, I am going to need rest, I am going to indulge sometimes in food that are not the healthiest, but you know, I’m going to earn it. I’m going to earn every meal that I have. So if I go out and have a steak, or go out and have burgers, or the all-time favorite my mom’s pozole. If I go out and have that stuff, I’m going to work really hard to get – to give myself that reward to go out to eat. You know, it’s not about just, “Okay, that’s it. I’m only going to be a rabbit and I’m only going to eat salad, and I’m only going to eat grilled chicken and grilled fish. It’s not about that, you know, it’s about knowing your body, knowing the workout that you put in, knowing the sacrifice that you’ve put in of eating all week or week and a half or for the month. And then rewarding yourself, people need to reward themselves. Regardless of what the other health experts say, you reward yourself because if not what’s the purpose of doing things that. You know, you work all week you get paid at the end of the week. And so you know, you run a mile, you check your time. That’s you reward you being able to run that mile faster every day. And so, what’s wrong with rewarding yourself with food once in a while? It’s expected and it’s earned.”
CS4U: What you do you feel that you’ve learned about yourself throughout your experience on the Biggest Loser?
Roberto Hernandez: “You know, I’ve always been an athlete. I’ve always wanted to be a strong person and I always wanted to get up and play with my son, and give him the father that I had as a child. So this is something that I really want to do. I wanted to learn to see who I really was, ‘Am I really that person that wants to sit on the couch or is there someone inside of me that can do more, be more, and be happier?’ And I am and he’s right here and I intend to keep this person for the rest of my life. And I promised myself, I promised God, I promised my Jacob, my wife, I have promised my family, and I promise America that I will not gain his weight back and I’m going to keep that promise.”
CS4U: Before the season started we talked to Bob and he didn’t have an exact number but he said that 50% of all of the contestants had stayed healthy and kept the weight off, that was good. What are your goals now that you set for yourself and how do you plan on staying in that healthy 50%?
Roberto Hernandez: “You know, it’s easy and like I said before, it’s a scary, scary situation. Tomorrow my real life starts over again, you know. So, tomorrow I’m back to reality. I don’t have to work-out if I want to, but I want to. I want to keep this healthy body, I want keep this thinner part of Roberto because it’s someone that’s going to be able to be active and happy and enjoy his kids. I plan on staying like this, I’m going to start working out. It’s not going to be as crazy as it was leading to the show because I was on the show, now I’m not on the show. So, maybe working out 2 to 3 hours a day and doing something with my kids. You know, they can get involved and taking them to the gym. And I know Planet Fitness has a lot stuff that can – I can have Jacob workout and stuff. So, those are thing that I’m planning on doing and incorporate into my life though. Just one day at a time, taking it one day at time. You know, I don’t plan on losing too much more weight and but I do – I plan on maintaining. So, it’s just taking it one day at time. Today is just about today, tomorrow is about tomorrow.”
