Couple marry after meeting at Biggest Loser Resort
What started out as a walk on a treadmill ended up being a walk down the aisle.
A couple who met doing workouts in The Biggest Loser Resort's weight loss program in Bloomingdale fell in love and recently got married, after losing a combined 140 pounds.
Patrick and Sarah Johnson, who now live in Palatine, believe fate intervened to bring them together this way.
“It's weird to think about it. It was like a ‘Sliding Doors' moment. What would happen if we didn't come on those dates?” Patrick said. “The resort completely changed our lives.”
Patrick Johnson, 26, came to the resort last July from London, England. At 420 pounds, he knew he needed a drastic lifestyle change. So he took a hiatus from his web design and consulting job and found the resort online while researching weight-loss options.
Patrick had never been to the U.S. before, or watched “The Biggest Loser,” the NBC weight loss competition show connected with the resort. He just liked the program and chose the Chicago location because of its proximity to O'Hare International Airport.
He signed up for an 11-week stay at the resort — housed in the Hilton Indian Lakes Resort in Bloomingdale — and began the program's 12-hour-a-day regimen of exercise classes and educational seminars.
Most people in his group were decades older. But after his first week, Sarah, 25, joined.
Sarah had just quit her job as a bakery manager, feeling worn down from working stressful, 12- to 15-hour days. It had led her to pack on the pounds, which she wanted to shed.
“I was so busy, I would just grab something in the bakery and eat it,” she said.
Patrick and Sarah hit it off instantly and became close friends. It was obvious to everyone that they were smitten with each other. They would joke about it during workouts, saying things like, “You're the chips to my guacamole,” and “You're the peanut to my butter.”
They spent their free time playing the hotel arcade's claw game, winning more than 120 stuffed animals, which they used to decorate the gyms. They later donated the toys to a children's charity.
“They were flirting with each other as if they were joking, and then all of a sudden, it wasn't a joke. It became real,” said Jerry Hayes of Wheaton, the at-home winner from Season 7 of “The Biggest Loser,” who now works at the resort.
When Sarah finished her monthlong stay, during which she lost 30 pounds (and 10 more after she got home), she took a planned vacation to California and left Patrick behind at the resort. During this time, they realized they never wanted to be apart again.
“We were texting constantly,” Patrick said. “The trainers were constantly taking my phone off me.”
Patrick finished the program in October — having lost 100 pounds — and Sarah arranged to drive him to the airport for his flight back to England. In a scene right out of a rom-com movie, Sarah made a last-minute decision to buy a ticket to London and go with him.
“We were about to leave (for the airport), and my aunt said, ‘Wait, you could go to London,' and she started looking online for tickets. I said to my dad, ‘I think I'm gonna go.' And he said, ‘OK, but come home,'” Sarah said. “It just felt right. I was so happy.”
Patrick moved into Sarah's Palatine home when they returned in November. A few weeks later, he bought an engagement ring, asked for her father's blessing and proposed on the same day. He popped the question at an unexpected time, when they were watching TV and getting out their Christmas decorations.
Patrick and Sarah were married eight weeks later, on Jan. 24. They had a large wedding at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights, where 1½ tables were filled with their friends and trainers from the Biggest Loser Resort.
Their honeymoon in California included tickets to see “The Biggest Loser” live finale Jan. 29, where they saw Bloomingdale resident Toma Dobrosavljevic win the title.
Resort staff members say they don't know of any other couples that met through their program, although the TV show has spawned a few couplings and marriages.
Patrick and Sarah are expecting their first child this summer. Through it all, they plan to keep each other in check and continue down the path to a healthy lifestyle.
“It's a boy,” Sarah said, smiling.