Michael Ventrella, of Chicago, Ill, surprised himself by winning season 9 of NBC’s The Biggest Loser Tuesday night. After starting the weight loss challenge as the heaviest contestant in the history of the show, he ended up losing a total of 264 pounds by the end of the finale.

As I watched The Biggest Loser finale live, I joined the discussion on Twitter.

1. 
   leesy_ watching the Biggest Loser finale. @Ali_Sweeney looks fabulous. These individuals r amazing. Love O’Neal. 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®
2. 
   leesy_ I can’t wait to see the winner. #BL9 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®
3. 
   leesy_ So happy for Mike! He deserves to win! #BL9 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®
4. 
   drewdewitt While I am proud for Michael I think Koli got shafted. He had the highest % overall by around 3% #BL9 26 May 2010 from web
5. 
   leesy_ has not watched this much TV in a long time. Tuesday will not feel the same w/o #BL9. I don’t know if I want to cry more for new ppl. 26 May 2010 from Twitter for BlackBerry®
6. 
   leesy_ did not realize Koli had the highest % weight loss. That is screwed up then. He should have won. #BL9 26 May 2010 from web

I later realized there was an entire online community dedicated to live tweeting on Tuesday nights during The Biggest Loser. Many openly shared their thoughts while viewing the two-hour program.

1. 
   ThinspiredBlog Why doesn’t Subway donate that $100k+ to the many kids who will go hungry this summer when school lunches stop? #BL9 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck
2. 
   AmandaGiardullo Ugh I did NOT miss Melissa, but she does look great. #BL9 26 May 2010 from web
3. 
   JenGrahamGLTC Sam’s transformation is just amazing! #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak
4. 
   JenGrahamGLTC Koli Bear what are you wearing? My t-shirt matches your pants dude. #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak
5. 
   AngieRobert O’Neal looks awesome. I love the spring in his step. But OMG … Sunshine. HOT stuff!!! #bl9 26 May 2010 from HootSuite
6. 
   JenGrahamGLTC Are we going to see Ashley fall off the treadmill AGAIN? #BL9 26 May 2010 from OpenBeak

The excitement carried over into the next day as people continued the conversation on Twitter. Those who had not had a chance to view the program live the previous night were learning details about the show, whether they wanted to or not.

1. 
   KGreene978 The #BL9 finale was awesome, but even better is reliving it this morning through @Tara_Costa, @HollieSelf & @alivincent ’s tweets! 26 May 2010 from web
2. 
   AvinMolden @BL9Michael i am very happy to see you win, thanks to you and the rest of BL9 i am starting my own transformation. wish me luck and congrats 26 May 2010 from web in reply to BL9Michael
3. 
   ShellyDemers LOVED #BL9 last night!!!!! watched every week and am still amazed how FANTASTIC everyone looks!!!! Way to go Michael!!! Astonishing job! 26 May 2010 from web
4. 
   alisha_hord DVR is as much a curse as it is a blessing. Hadn’t seen #BL9 finale YET and thanks to twitter, I know the winners. Ugh. 26 May 2010 from web
5. 
   aimees76 SO Happy Michael won #BL9 !! He SO deserved it & looked amazing! Also stoked for Koli!! Yay!! 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck
6. 
   Gibbles562 @IamSucceeding It was great tweeting while watching #BL9 with you too!!! Can’t wait for #BL10 26 May 2010 from web in reply to IamSucceeding
7. 
   MAquicksilver @ali_sweeney Can u believe that if voting went the other way Koli would have won & Daris would have won at home prize?#BL9 was voting close? 26 May 2010 from web
8. 
   slowlybutsure10 I’m so happy for Michael! He looked AMAZING last night! Do you think he and Ashley are dating? They’d be so cute together! #BL9 26 May 2010 from TweetDeck
9. 
   SamBerke I am so excited for #BL9 finale, everyone looks amazing! Great job and great inspiration! 26 May 2010 from web

A Q&A with Ventrella by Entertainment Weekly can be read here.