One of the fiercest competitors on The Biggest Loser Singles and also one of the fairest, Simon’s departure will be keenly felt as the competition moves forward. One party happy to have him home, at least, are his kids, who can’t quite believe the transformation dad has undergone in eight weeks.

“The looks on their faces when I walked through the door was absolutely priceless,” Simon laughs. “Oscar has been doing double-takes all the time; he’s even been trying to work out how they made me look taller. And Levi, my 16-year-old who doesn’t usually say very much, said he was very proud, which is a great thing.”

Of the teams in this year’s competition, few have displayed camaraderie in the face of adversity like the Blacks. A characteristic of the older groups, in fact, is that rarely have they suffered from the same in-fighting as their younger counterparts. “I think that’s a case of being older and a little wiser,” Simon offers. “We knew the reasons why we were there and weren’t taken up by the amount of testosterone and oestrogen flying through our veins and that sort of stuff. We were a very close-knit unit.”

Part of one of this year’s must-see stories, Simon credits his relationship with Lisa for being a huge motivator and comfort during his time on the show, however unlikely Camp Biggest Loser would seem as a place to find love. “The thing with Lisa and my relationship was the fact that all of a sudden I had someone in the house I could go to if I had a problem or an issue or doubted myself and the same for her.”

Simon insists, however, that he and Lisa both agreed not to let personal feelings influence their decisions in the competition. “It didn’t really change the dynamics within the house,” Simon explains. “We’re grown-ups, and were very clear that there would be a point where we would possibly have to vote for each other. We were able to keep our relationship separate from Biggest Loser ‘the game.’”

Unfortunately being realistic about the demands of the game didn’t make going up for Elimination against Lisa any easier. Yet single-minded in his appraisal that Lisa still needed to be there, he hoped that the vote would fall in her favour. “As soon as it was the two of us below the Yellow Line there was no question in my mind that I should be the one that goes home. Lisa was missing home as well as was dealing with some issues that were coming up, and I put my hand up and said they should absolutely vote me out and I’m glad that they did.”

Now Simon’s focus is squarely on the future, which by his own estimation is “rosy” – not least because it contains the prospect of exploring his relationship with Lisa in a far more natural setting. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens afterwards as far as Lisa and I go,” he enthuses. “We’ll just develop, it’ll be interesting to have a real life and a real date and not have cameras and whatever else going on.”