'WHATEVER IT TAKES'

Sitcom Star Reveals How He Lost 100 Pounds Without GLP-1s

The Emmy-nominated actor recalls his weight peaking at 375 pounds.

Mike & Molly actor Billy Gardell credits his weight-loss surgery for possibly saving his life.

On the September 22 episode of the Breaking Bread podcast, Gardell joked with host Tom Papa that he could eat just one of the cookies on display because his stomach holds only 12 ounces of food.

“I only have so much space because I got the bariatric surgery,” the 57-year-old said.

From 2010 to 2016, Gardell starred opposite Melissa McCarthy in Mike & Molly, portraying a couple who meets at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting. While filming the popular sitcom, the six-foot actor’s weight peaked at 375 pounds.

From 2019 to 2024, Gardell starred in Bob Hearts Abishola. During the show’s early years, he lost 100 pounds on his own, getting down to 275 pounds.

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“And then, as my doctor says, after 50 the warranties start running out,” Gardell said. “And so I had type 2 diabetes. I had some cholesterol stuff, some heart stuff.”

He added, “I was getting to the point where it was like the doctor was like, ‘You have to do something.’ And then I got to the point where I hurt my knee, and I couldn’t even walk for exercise, and I was like, ‘I have to do something drastic.’”

Gardell underwent bariatric surgery in July 2021. The Mayo Clinic says there are four types of these weight-loss surgeries, which reduce stomach size and limit how much a person can eat.

Since the beginning of his weight-loss journey, Gardell has lost about 170 pounds total, telling People in December 2025 that his weight “fluctuates between 210 and 215.”

“I got the surgery, and it’s been a couple of years now, and I probably saved my life,” Gardell said on the podcast. “I’m not on any medication. Diabetes is gone.”

He said he had yo-yoed with his weight for years before the surgery.

“I think the only reason I was able to survive as long as I did is one, I got decent genetics, and two, I played some sports when I was younger,” he said. “So I was a big fat guy, but I was a pretty solid fat guy, and I could carry the weight for a long time, but eventually you can’t outrun that.”

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Before he underwent his 2021 surgery, Gardell also used Ozempic.

“I was on Ozempic for a year, and I was their spokesman,“ he said. “But it was for type 2 diabetes, and they didn’t know it was a weight loss drug yet.”

He stopped taking the medication before his surgery, but pondered whether that was the right call. “Had I known it was a weight loss drug, I probably would have ridden that out,” he said, adding that he lost 12 pounds while on the drug.

“I just went with the surgery, which also comes with its downsides, but overall, the gift of being able to go on vacation with the family,” Gardell said.

He rejoiced that he could now go hiking with his wife, Patty Gardell, whom he married in 2001, and snorkel with his son, William, whom the couple welcomed in 2003.

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Gardell also listed some of the “stupid joys” that came with weight loss, like flying in the middle seat, shopping at a mall, and bending down to tie his shoes.

“I don’t want to survive what I’ve survived, succeed what I’ve succeeded, and then not be able to get out of a chair,” Gardell said. “For anybody out there struggling, if I can do it, you can do it, and don’t let nobody tell you differently. Do whatever it takes.”

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Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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