ARARAT - Hundreds of locals braved the cold last Sunday morning to be a part of filming for The Biggest Loser's final town weigh-in at the Ararat Performing Arts Centre.
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While the final total of weight loss for Ararat can't be released until the program goes to air, the figure is significant and drew rounds of applause from the enthusiastic audience.
The impact The Biggest Loser has had on Ararat has been evident over the past 12 weeks, with a noticeable increase in the number of people walking and exercising around town.
Each step along the way has been recorded by the program's special pebble device and it was revealed on Sunday the 500-plus registered participants have amassed more than 235 million steps - The equivalent of walking around the world four times!
Kylie Walker was the lucky winner of the major prize of $5000 for taking part in the final filming, while Krystal Ferguson was runner-up and scored $1000.
Ms Walker said she had enjoyed being part of the Biggest Loser town challenges and was thrilled to win the raffle.
"I was completely surprised and very excited when they called my name," she said.
"We are off to Queensland in September, so it will come in handy and I'll probably put some of the money towards Christmas presents too."
There was also double cause for celebrations for Ms Ferguson when it was announced she had topped the table for most steps recorded, a whopping three million.
Executive producer of The Biggest Loser, Stuart Clark said both the production teams at Shine Australia and Network Ten have been thrilled with the participation of the Ararat community.
"It was a fabulous day on Sunday - We couldn't have asked for more, despite the weather," he said.
"Everyone was positive and had come so far. As we revealed the new health stats of the town, the crowd became more and more enthused as they realised just how far they have come."