Craig Arrington

"The Biggest Loser" returns with 15 inspiring contestants - including the show's first celebrity player, Ruben Studdard, an uplifting "Second Chances" theme and powerful new roles for trainers Bob Harper, Jillian Michaels and Dolvett Quince. For the first time ever in the show's history, trainers sat in on casting sessions and helped select the new contestants, and also received a "trainer save," allowing each one to save one eliminated contestant from going home. Contestants eager for a second chance to reclaim their health and re-write their futures include "American Idol" winner Ruben Studdard, this season's heaviest contestant at 462 pounds, David Brown, who lost his first wife to an almost decade-long battle with cancer and is now fighting for his life so he can be there for his daughters, and Tanya Winfield, a single mom addicted to food who grew up with a teenage mom addicted to drugs, who is eager to break the cycle of addiction in her family. Also competing this season will be Olympic weight lifter Holley Mangold, hoping to get in the best shape possible for a second chance at gold in the 2016 Olympics, and Matt Hooper, who postponed his wedding to be on the show so he could give his fiancé the best physical version of himself.

This week, the contestants are surprised to find that the gym is empty - and the only equipment they’ll be able to use is equipment they've successfully bid on with "Biggest Loser" bucks in the show’s first ever auction, run by host Alison Sweeney. Trainers Bob, Jillian and Dolvett and the players have to get creative to make the most of their limited equipment. Later, one player opens up to her trainer about her difficult childhood, and all of the contestants re-charge their spirits with a very special treat - getting to skype with their loved ones back home in emotional, heartwarming family visits. Then it's time to head to the gym for a very emotional weigh-in. Also this week, the show catches up with season 12 fan favorite Vinny Hickerson.

The contestants celebrate Thanksgiving week with a special challenge - racing to load boxes of Thanksgiving food into trucks headed to help tornado victims in Moore, Oklahoma, where one player has a special connection. Members of the winning team are very thankful for their prize - a holiday dinner shared at the ranch with loved ones flown in for the celebration. Emotional reunions follow, as the winning team, their trainer and their family members gather for a Thanksgiving feast and share what they are most grateful for. Also, one player gets encouragement from his trainer to talk to his family about a long-kept secret, and the show catches up with one of season 14's child ambassadors, Sunny, to see how she is doing today. Then it's time for weigh-in and another elimination, which leaves one trainer giving a very tearful and emotional farewell to one of their players.

The contestants are off on the adventure of a lifetime, headed to Utah Olympic Park in Park City, Utah, where they'll train like champions and get to meet some incredible Olympic athletes. Dolvett introduces the players to Olympic gold medalist Apolo Ohno, who talks about his own "Second Chance" - this season's theme - and works out with the contestants inside the spectacular Olympic Oval arena. Then the contestants get to compete in the sport of curling, after an introduction to USA Curling team members Jessica Schultz, Debbie McCormick and Anne Swisshelm. The fun continues at the base of the bobsled track, where words of motivation from USA Bobsled Team members Lolo Jones and Jazmine Fenlator get the remaining seven players fired up about the fast-paced sport. But for this week's challenge, they won't be racing down the track. Instead, they will be running more than a mile up the bobsled track, a challenge made far more difficult by the elevation of over 7,000 feet. Also this week, Bob designs an Olympic-inspired workout that puts all the players to the test, and Jillian tries to help a contestant still struggling to embrace her self-worth. Travelling and being away from the ranch environment leaves many contestants worried about their weight loss this week. Those fears intensify at the weigh-in, where surprising results push two players below the yellow line and the other contestants must decide which player is going home.

The dreaded "week 2 curse" is on all the players' minds, especially when they learn that only one person's weight on each of the three teams will count at this week's weigh-in. And they won’t know who it is beforehand, only when a roll of the die at the scale determines who will represent the red, white and blue teams. One lucky group will get a weigh-in advantage if they win the first challenge of the season; a water-bucket race that ties each team’s fate together in more ways than one. Also this week, one player gets sobering health news from Dr. H, another contestant connects with a very special family member and the show catches up with one of last season's popular child ambassadors to see how they are doing now.