Billy Gardell says he's "walking around pretty healthy these days" after losing more than 150 pounds.
The Bob Hearts Abishola star talked to Entertainment Tonight about the latest on his health journey since being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and undergoing gastric bypass surgery to reduce his risk of COVID-19. At his heaviest, Gardell was 370 pounds. In the nearly two years after the surgery, he said "I float between 205 and 210."
"I think you got to find peace with yourself and at some point, look in the mirror and go, 'You know, it's probably time to take care of you.' And I didn't get that note early on," he explained. "But I'm a big believer that when you get it, you get it. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as you get it."
Gardell noted that he had "chickened out" from doing the surgery twice, but ultimately felt inclined to do it at the peak of the pandemic. He wanted to address his heightened risk, as well as his earlier development of Type 2 diabetes. Most importantly, he wanted to be healthy for his son.
"When you hit 50, you start doing that dad math, like, 'If I can live 25 more years, and he'll be 40,' ... You know what I mean? So I want to be here for him," Gardell said. "I've been an example in a lot of good ways for my child, but I feel like I wasn't a good example of health for him. And so I want him to see that. It doesn't matter what age you are, if you are willing to do something a day at a time, you can change anything."
The actor noted that his evolving body continues to be a source of speculation and criticism as he exists in the public eye.
"Of course, there's always people online that, you know, when I was heavy, they were like 'You're too heavy!' And now it's like, 'Are you sick?'" he said. "Can I just walk the earth, please?"
Fortunately, he's felt an immense amount of support from the people that he works with on his current sitcom.
"One of the gifts of the show was to be able to, you know, talk to our producers and say, 'This is what I want to do' and they were incredibly supportive and they just gave little nods to it as it was happening," he explained. "The true people that were tortured here was my wardrobe guy and my makeup people. At one point, we were taping my neck back because my skin hadn’t adjusted yet and stuff, so god bless them. They got me through it. They made me look good all the way through. And it was a nice progression to have the audience watch in real time."
Gardell joked that his one complaint about his new body is that the ankles on his pants are now "too tight." He said, "I don't want to do yoga to get out of my pants. That's where I miss my fat boy pants, because you could drop them and step out like a fireman."
Jokes aside, he's happy about the potential of being a role model for others going through a similar journey.
"If you’re trying to lose weight, a day at a time is the most important thing. Sometimes an hour at a time." he said. "You know, in this life, sometimes you have to surrender. And asking for help is the thing people are most terrified about but it is the very thing where strength is born."