Wheaton couple want fitness - not fame - from reality show

When Jerry and Estella Hayes went to a casting call for NBC's "The Biggest Loser," they weren't looking for a way to get on television.

The Wheaton grandparents were looking for a way to lose weight.

After a lifetime of yo-yo dieting, Jerry had hit a wall. He simply was no longer able to shed the pounds. Even working with a dietitian for two months proved fruitless.

"The TV part didn't really cross our minds to tell you the truth," Jerry said about trying out for the weight-loss competition/reality show. "It was the results that they had."

Indeed, since "The Biggest Loser" debuted in 2004, viewers have seen dozens of morbidly obese people lose weight fast for the chance to win $250,000. The contestants achieve their dramatic transformations with the help of strict diets, rigorous workouts and eye-opening therapy sessions.

And the ones who lose the least amount of weight each week are booted off the show.

Feeling they needed something more than just another diet, the Hayeses signed on.

Now they are among 11 teams of two participating in the show's seventh season. Both 63, they also are the oldest couple ever to compete on the series.

"Our kids are so excited that we've taken this step," Estella said. "They were worried for us (before the show). And we really didn't realize the extent of the worry that they had with Jerry getting more sick with medical problems. We were going in the wrong direction."

At the start of the show's taping on a California ranch, Jerry weighed 369 pounds and Estella weighed 242 pounds. Their quest to lose that weight got off to a scary start when Jerry collapsed after his first workout.

"Essentially what happened is my blood pressure went down because I was on a lot of blood pressure medicine, it was hot, and I was dehydrated," Jerry recalled. "I fainted. I went down."

Estella remembers Jerry's lips getting gray, his eyes rolling back and him slumping to the ground.

"He was nonresponsive, and they couldn't get his blood pressure, so that was alarming," she said. "But by the time they were able to rouse him, he was able to stand up and walk to the door of the gym. By the time they had him in the ambulance, his coloring was all back and he was joking with people. At that point, I felt pretty comfortable that he was OK."

While he felt fine, Jerry says he was worried that he would be forced to leave the show.

Just to get on the program, the Hayeses had to pass a long list of tests, including body and heart scans. After Jerry fainted, doctors did another series of tests before allowing him to return to the gym.

Despite the setback, Jerry lost an impressive 25 pounds before the first weigh-in.

Estella credits the up to six hours of daily exercise with their weight loss.

"Going from sedentary to that, it was a shocker," Estella said. "The truth is, we didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. But it's been awesome."

One part of the experience that made it difficult is that Estella was sent home to Wheaton for at least 30 days to lose weight on her own. Viewers won't find out until a future episode whether she was able to return to the ranch.

So how does it all turn out? We'll have to keep tuning in to WMAQ-TV Channel 5 at 7 p.m. Tuesdays to find out.

Either way, the Hayeses say they have no regrets. They hope to become an inspiration for others.

"We were never athletes. We were couch potatoes, and the biggest thing I do is mow my lawn," Jerry said. "We want to encourage seniors to get healthy by both diet and by exercise."