The star of Mike & Molly has majorly changed his life. Billy Gardell, 56, showed off his weight loss in a recent interview with People. The Emmy nominated actor revealed that he has lost 170 pounds since 2021.
"Every year, I'd say I'd start on Monday," the comedian explained. "Or the first of the month. Or New Year's Eve. That was always my routine." But instead of actually starting his workout routine, he put it off – over and over and over again.
In 2020, Billy weighed between 370 and 380 pounds and developed type-2 diabetes. He really began to worry about his health during the COVID pandemic. "When the first wave hit, and they punched up that list of high-risk conditions, I had all of them," Billy said. "Overweight, sleep apnea, smoker, type 2 diabetes, asthma… It was really the perfect storm.
He continued: "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.'"
© Getty ImagesThat change came on July 17, 2021 when Billy underwent bariatric surgery. "It really came down to a shift in everything I think about food," the actor 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."
In the four years since his surgery, Billy has lost more than 170 pounds. He now works out regularly and pays more attention to his diet. "I fluctuate between 210 and 215," he said. "And that's comfortable for me."
© Getty ImagesWhile losing the weight changed Billy's life, it also drastically improved his health. "My diabetes is gone," he told People. "I feel strong. I have energy. Losing weight saved my life."
Billy Gardell's career as "the big guy"
© Getty ImagesBilly decided to pursue a career in comedy at the age of 17. He traveled across the country, performing at clubs and "medicating" his emotions and fears with food. "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."
His stand-up career was successful and he leaned into his weight, telling People: "the big guy is always funny." In 2010, Billy was cast opposite Melissa McCarthy on Mike & Molly as a police officer who meets the love of his life at an Overeaters Anonymous. "I was the romantic lead at 350 lbs.," he said, awed by his own success. "Life is so strange."
© Getty ImagesAfter Mike & Molly wrapped in 2016, Billy appeared in many television shows before landing his next sitcom, Bob Hearts Abishola. The comedy follows an American who falls in love with his Nigerian nurse. The CBS show aired its last episode in May 2024.
Now, Billy is on his Less is More tour, once again traveling across the country with the goal of building his stand-up comedy career. This time, instead of performing at small clubs, Billy's in major theaters, making crowds of thousands laugh.
