Billy Gardell is the first to admit that he looks a bit different after losing 150 pounds. The Bob Hearts Abishola actor believes that he now resembles Hollywood icon Paul Newman.
“I went from a young Jackie Gleason to an old Paul Newman,” Billy, 54, told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuleos during a visit to Live With Kelly and Mark on Friday, April 19.
The Mike & Molly alum underwent bariatric surgery in 2021 to kickstart his health journey after he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. “My diabetes is gone, so it’s all good stuff,” he told the couple while showing off his new look on stage.
Billy admitted that healthy eating has posed some challenges, but he is willing to find the best course of action that works for him.
“The Hulk is still in there,” he said. “I’m constantly a hostage negotiator between my brain and my stomach because my brain’s like, ‘Uh, you can’t eat that, you can’t eat that! You’re full!’ My stomach’s, like ‘That’s never stopped us before.’ So I have to balance it, but I work on it every day.”
Above all, Billy shared that he is “grateful,” especially for the opportunity to “annoy” his wife, Patty Gardell, “a little longer.” The pair are parents to one son, William Gardell.
The comedian previously opened up about his relationship with food.
“If you grew up like I did, you grow up in a house where it’s like, ‘We had a bad day, let’s eat! We had a good day? Let’s eat!’ So I had to learn that food is fuel and it’s not comfort and it’s not celebration. And I work on that daily,” Billy told Entertainment Tonight in September 2022. “If you don’t have a problem with food, thank whatever god you pray to and be grateful you don’t, because it is it’s a serious addiction, just like anything else. But I find my way. I do my thing and in the morning and I try to stay between the lines and I’m grateful I get to.”
Now, he is happy to celebrate the “small victories” throughout his weight loss transformation.
“Things that heavy people understand! I’ve been freed from them,” he continued. “My body feels better, my joints feel better, and I’m trying to stay around and annoy my wife for another 20 years.”
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