When you have a hit program on your hand, why waste time between seasons?  Or leave those who need to live Tweet the show with idle hands on a Tuesday night?

Just a few short weeks after the Season 8 finale, The Biggest Loser returns to NBC on January 5.  Season 9:  Couples 3 features 22 contestants, paired off into 11 new teams of loved ones.   No random pairings as in the Season 5:  Couples Blue Team of Bernie Salazar and Brittany Aberle.  Personally, I loved the friendship that developed between those two!

And here’s a shocker – neither of the “Half Ton Twins” is the heaviest player in show history.   Given current rates of obesity in this country, you can bet that Season 9 won’t be the last time Bob and Jillian will say “we’ve got the heaviest player ever.”

Early calls on who will be The Biggest Loser of Season 9? A snippet from Tuesday’s premiere…