Likability’s a winner on ‘Biggest Loser’

At the live “Biggest Loser” finale Tuesday night, good triumphed over . . . Vicky. And Heba.

In front of an audience in Studio City, and a broadcast one on NBC, Michelle won $250,000 and the title of “The Biggest Loser,” overcoming a childhood traumatized by divorce and, perhaps more important, beating out fellow competitors who were seen as two of the most conniving and unappealing contestants in the show’s history.

“I earned it,” said Michelle, who joined the show as a duo alongside her mother, Renee, and immediately became a fan favorite both because of her doggedness in the gym and her kind, forgiving demeanor. Michelle had been estranged from her mother for years after her parents’ divorce.

Michelle lost 110 pounds, or an astonishing 45.45% of her body weight, to win the game and become only the second woman to win “The Biggest Loser” title.

For fans of the show, though, Michelle’s victory was all the more sweet because it came at the expense of Vicky and Heba.

Heba came into the house as a bit of a bully -- make that a big, loud bully -- who immediately began throwing her weight around to get her way. She created divides and alliances, and was the first to turn the tables on a competitor -- and then complained bitterly at any smack of game-playing that didn’t suit her purposes.

Well, Heba finally got hers. In an odd twist of fate, Heba and her husband, Ed, ended up competing for the third spot in the finals. The decision was left up to the public to vote between the two. Ed, being the dutiful husband, begged America to let his wife win. Heba also begged America to let her win.

America gave her the backhand: In a “landslide” vote, 84% of the votes cast were against Heba.

Heba didn’t go home empty-handed, however. She won the $100,000 runner-up prize for losing 138 pounds, or 46.94% of her body weight.

In other words, if she had curried a little more favor with the public, she would have ended up as a finalist and then gone on to win.

In an interview afterward, when asked why America voted against her, she said, “I guess there are just a lot of negative people out there who don’t like to see success.”

Vicky, meanwhile -- who was dubbed by trainer Bob Harper as “Shakespearean” for her efforts to manipulate her teammates -- missed winning the $250,000 prize by 1 pound.

See? There’s justice after all.

In an interview after the show, Vicky said she had been unfairly depicted as a schemer. To hear her tell it, it was all camera work. She has been so widely reviled that she had to change her phone number because she was receiving death threats and angry letters.

“Most people hate my guts,” Vicky said, later adding that perhaps so many people disliked her because she was a determined competitor who knew what she wanted. “Women need to be strong, and they need to use their heads.”

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rene.lynch@latimes.com