05 December 2023 , 10:09
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The Only Way Is Essex star James 'Arg' Argent battled with his weight for years before he lost a whopping 14 stone after undergoing weight loss surgery.
The 36-year-old TV personality had gastric sleeve surgery in 2021 which helped him go from 27 stone to 14 stone, but he was left feeling self-conscious about the excess skin around his stomach. James then underwent a 'life-changing' tummy tuck in January, and later revealed he felt 'amazing' and had been healing well.
Opening up about his past demons after taking part in Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins this year, James said: "It was honestly one of the hardest physical and mental challenges of my life. A year before I entered the course, I was weighing 27 stone and I couldn't even tie my own shoelaces. To even pass the medical to compete was a win in itself."
James had gastric band surgery and lost 14 stone before he had a tummy tuck (James Argent/Instagram)
The singer now has a 'very healthy relationship with food and exercise' (Jack Dredd/REX/Shutterstock)Speaking to The Sun in May, singer James, whose band appears on today's This Morning, said he had been feeling "amazing" since the surgery, which saw his belly button be removed and later reattached after loose skin was cut away. "There's still a little bit of swelling, actually, because I think the swelling goes down after, say, six months," he said as he discussed his physical recovery. "And listen, I do have a few scars, but I know that they'll go faint. I think it's quite cool to have a few little battle scars or battle wounds along the way."
Earlier in the year, James opened up about the operation and said the last year has been "incredible" for him. Taking to Instagram, he shared: "The last year has been incredible and life-changing. Since having gastric sleeve surgery with @wearetransform I have lost over 13st, Dropping from 27st to 14st. The weight loss surgery alongside significant lifestyle changes has meant that I'm in the best form of my life - both physically and mentally."
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James went on to share the downsides of his weight loss. "Losing such a significant amount of weight has meant that there were areas of my body that I was still self-conscious about. That is why I made the decision to have a tummy tuck with @wearetransform to remove excess skin resulting from my weight loss that I couldn't lose through diet and exercise alone," he wrote.
But James' weight isn't his only transformation recently as he proudly announced that he has been clean of his drugs and alcohol addictions for two years. During an appearance on This Morning in June, he explained: "[Going into rehab] wasn't specific to anything. It was just a battle all round, really. I've now got myself in a position where I'm just under two years clean and sober and now I have a very healthy relationship with food and exercise and I kind of really feel happy and content."