Billy Gardell, 53, has lost an impressive more than 150 lbs and is “finally” putting “self-care” first. The Bob Hearts Abishola star talked about his weight loss journey, in a new interview with ET this week. “I float between 205 [pounds] and 210 [pounds],” he told the outlet while on the set of his hit CBS sitcom. “Self-care is important, and I think I finally got there.”
Billy weighed over 370 points almost a decade ago, and in 2022, he was encouraged to undergo bariatric weight loss surgery to help minimize his COVID risk and has since changed his diet to healthier foods. “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 in the interview. “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.”
The talented star also revealed that his resting heart rate has changed from 113 to 68 since he lost weight, and he no longer suffers from Type 2 diabetes. “Walking around pretty healthy these days,” he said. “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?’ Can I just walk the earth, please?!”
Despite changing to a mostly healthy lifestyle, Billy admitted he still smokes. “I’m still smoking cigarettes,” he said. “But I’m working on that one. A buddy of mine told me, ‘Knock them down in the order they’re killing you.'”
Billy, who shares son William III, 20, with wife Patty Knight, further confirmed that the biggest motivator he had to get his health on track was his son and still is. “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,” he 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.”