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Erica Lugo’s The Biggest Loser contestants have become a part of her family, so much so that she was counting on them to join her for her upcoming wedding. Unfortunately, the Latina trainer is among the brides having to postpone their dream weddings because of the coronavirus pandemic. “We were supposed to get married April 4, but we canceled our 150-person dream wedding until further notice,” she tells HOLA! USA. “The kids were upset we had to cancel so we will be having a mini dinner celebration with the kids –with the food we were going to have at the wedding, a small cake and a champagne (sparkling juice for them).”
When we first caught up with Erica in March, she excitedly exclaimed her wedding was 30 days away. During that time, she had been maintaining her busy schedule of filming, touring and planning the wedding. And sticking with her workouts as much as possible to look great in her dress. “If you would ask me six years ago that I'd be sitting in the 160s with my weight, I would have laughed at you and never thought was possible,” she said. “I would only dream of having that weight, so I need to learn to be appreciative of it and know I'm still going to look gorgeous on my wedding day."
Erica and her fiancé Danny made the decision to postpone their wedding and shared the news with her followers on March 14. “I’m sure many of us are tired and overwhelmed with hearing the word #CoronaVirus,” she wrote alongside a photo of the couple. “I am too, so much so that we decided to postpone our wedding that was supposed to be on 4/4. Yes we have options to still get legally married on that day and we probably will but our big celebration, the day we’ve planned for, waited for is no longer happening on 4/4. The governor of Ohio put a ban on gathering of 100+ more (weddings are exempt) but we didn’t feel okay carrying on.”
The newest addition to The Biggest Loser family fought and beat thyroid cancer and knows what the virus can do to those with a weakened immune system. “It’s not just about YOU or ME anymore. It’s about US as a country, as the world,” she said. “As someone who is relatively healthy, although I had cancer last year and have an auto immune disorder, if I get sick the chance of me recovering are higher. However having a wedding of 100+ people means anyone who is healthy and carrying around the virus can easily spread it to someone who doesn’t have the greatest immune system.”
Thinking of her family and friends she continued: “That means our grandparents, that means someone who just had surgery or getting over an illness or someone who seems healthy and doesn’t realize they have underlying conditions. That means our parents who were there for us, that means our neighbor who is elderly and already needs help. Let’s stop the bickering, let’s stop the back and forth, let’s put our selfishness aside for a month or longer if need be and help our country get through this.”