‘Mike & Molly’ Star Drops 170 Pounds In Amazing Transformation

Billy Gardell, who starred in the hit sitcom “Mike & Molly”, showed off his impressive transformation, speaking to PEOPLE about his 170-pound weight loss.

Specifically, Gardell revealed that in 2020 he weighed between 370 to 380 pounds and developed type 2 diabetes. And then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

“When the first wave hit, and they punched up that list of high-risk conditions, I had all of them,” Gardell told the outlet. “Overweight, sleep apnea, smoker, type 2 diabetes, asthma . . . It was really the perfect storm. Between my blood numbers not coming back good, my blood pressure going up, type 2 diabetes and COVID — it was enough stuff to scare me to say, ‘Come hell or high water, I’ve got to make a change.’ ”

The first step in making a change: undergoing bariatric surgery in 2021.

“It really came down to a shift in everything I think about food,” he explained. “Food is fuel. It’s not reward, it’s not soothing, it’s not medication. I had to get beyond my emotional relationship with food.”

SEE Billy Gardell’s Transformation

In his interview with PEOPLE, Gardell detailed how his health has drastically changed due to the weight loss.

“I fluctuate between 210 and 215,” he said. “And that’s comfortable for me.” Even better, his health issues have receded. “My diabetes is gone,” he says. “I feel strong. I have energy. Losing weight saved my life.”

Gardell Opens Up About His Childhood Where His Poor Relationship With Food Started

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Gardell spent his childhood splitting time between Pennsylvania and Florida after his parents divorced, and revealed that his unhealthy relationship with food began when he was a teenager.

“I had a lot of responsibility heaped on me at 14 to help provide for the family, and the second stepfather that we had in the house was not a kind person,” he told PEOPLE. “I think I put on this extra weight as some kind of safety armor.”

At the age of 17, he left home and pursued his career as a stand-up comedian, where things continued to get worse.

“I was medicating my emotions and my fears with food, and I was also celebrating my victories with food,” Gardell detailed. “You’re eating to deflect your feelings when they’re bad or enhance them when they’re good, and both of those things are poison pills.”

While he continued to try numerous different types of diets, nothing seemed to work before he ultimately made the decision to have surgery.

“I feel like I saved my life; I really do,” he boldly stated when speaking with the outlet.

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