Fans of ITV game show The Chase continue to be stunned by the weight loss journey that Mark ‘The Beast’ Labbett is on, with many claiming that they didn’t even recognise him in a recent photo.
Here he is on Loose Women showing off his new physique:
Labbett has the nickname ‘The Beast’ on the show not because of his former size, but because his name is homophonous with the French phrase ‘La Bête’, which translates to ‘The Beast’.
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Still, he was formerly pretty large in stature as well, but in recent times, he has shed weight like nobody’s business.
The professional quizzer shared a picture of himself recently standing backstage at a pantomime and the difference has rarely been clearer.
He’s currently playing the villain Fleshcreep in Jack and the Beanstalk at a theatre in Northwich in Cheshire, but he took the snap whilst enjoying some downtime with the board game version of Pointless, the show that The Chase goes up against over on the BBC on weekday evenings.
Underneath his Twitter post, Labbett wrote: “This was my secret Santa at the Northwich Panto. I suspect Richard Osman.”
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It’s certainly a bold move from whoever actually was his secret Santa, but that hasn’t been what fans have been focused on.
One fan wrote: “Is it bad I thought this was a throwback pic of you as a teen!?
“You're looking way younger, Beastie!”
Another said: “Jesus, almost didn't recognise you, really smashed that weight loss.”
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A third said: “Bloody hell, actually didn’t think that was you and thought it was possibly your son or a relative lol.”
Mark has spoken in the past about how a bout of suspected Covid-19 and his battle with diabetes sparked his weight loss journey.
He previously weighed more than 27 stone, but managed to get under 23 stone and hasn’t looked back.
In 2020, he told The Sun: "I got suspected Covid at the end of February, and got sent home from work, for the first time in 15 years, on Wednesday 27th. ITV were brilliant and took no chances.
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"Because the testing capacity was so limited then, I never formally got a test but all I can say is that for two weeks I had complete loss of appetite, no sense of smell, a temperature, exhaustion and the worst fever of my life."
He continued: "I basically didn't eat for two weeks but since then the weight has continued to drop off because I have continued to eat sensibly. I knew I had to.
"I am still losing weight and beginning to notice the difference in photos which, I can assure you, are not Photoshopped!"
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He’s also credited his dog – who he calls his ‘personal trainer’ – with helping him along the way.
On ITV’s The Pet Show, he said: "My wife promised me that when we first got him she would take care of everything - feeding him, walking him and so on,
"That lasted about two weeks before she decided 'Actually Mark, look at your belly - you need the exercise!'"
He added: "I was walking him around the fields, taking me places... I think he's helped a lot, simply because I'm doing more activity."
Well, whatever he’s doing – it’s working.
Featured Image Credit: ITV/ Twitter / @marklabbettTopics: The Chase, Celebrity, TV and Film