Shultz comes in second runner-up on The Biggest Loser

By Carole Brand

Published: April 16, 2008

The crowd was large and the cheers were loud as family, friends and supporters rallied Tuesday night at Creekside Grille to cheer on Enterprise’s Roger Shultz. Shultz was a finalist in NBC’s The Biggest Loser in a two-hour finale that came down to three top weight-loss contestants.

Shultz faced two women opponents in the finale with a former swimming champion, Ali, winning the title of The Biggest Loser, the $250,000 grand prize, and the honor of becoming the first woman to win The Biggest Loser title.

Supporters, family members and Shultz still consider the Enterprise resident a “big winner.” The finalist said on the show, attended by wife, Paige and son, Ivan, that “you’ve got to train everyday and know you’ve had an opportunity to win big with this.”

Shultz began The Biggest Loser weighing in at 363 pounds in October 2007. In the final, his weight was 199 pounds, a total weight loss of 164 pounds and a percentage weight loss of 45.18 percent. After five months of filming the show in California, he traveled home to Enterprise and continued his weight loss training and healthy diet. After six weeks in Enterprise, Shultz traveled back for the show’s final farewell to the participants.

Friend and supporter Kathy Davis, who helped organize Tuesday night’s gathering, said, “everyone is so proud of Roger and the fact that he has influenced so many other people to lose weight for themselves. There are some here tonight that began losing weight because they saw the positive come out in Roger Shultz. We’re glad he’s coming back home to Alabama and to his friends and family that loved him all along.”