The reason Mr T wore gold chains and heartbreaking situation that forced him to stop

It apparently used to take Mr T an entire hour to put on all of his iconic gold chains.

The star, born Laurence Tureaud, first started collecting gold chains when he worked as a bouncer. In fact, it was Mr T’s appearance on a TV show called America’s Toughest Bouncer that caught the attention of Sylvester Stallone, who went on to cast T in Rocky III.

Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

While bouncing, T would collect all the gold chains clubbers left behind, and insists he’d have returned them if any of their previous owners came forward. But Mr T fans might have noticed that in recent years, he stopped wearing gold chains altogether.

According to VT, there’s a moving story behind both Mr T’s decision to stop wearing his chains and to start wearing them in the first place.

The outlet notes that Mr T confirmed in his biography that he’d been inspired to start wearing all the gold necklaces he found at venues by his African ancestors.

Mr T wrote: “The reason why I wear gold - I wear gold for three reasons. One, when Jesus was born, three wise men came from the east: one brought frankincense, one brought myrrh, the other one brought gold.

“The second reason I wear gold is I can afford it. The third reason I wear it, it's symbolic of my African heritage.

“When my ancestors came from Africa, they were shackled by our neck, our wrists, and our ankles in steel chains. I've turned those steel chains into gold to symbolise the fact that I'm still a slave, only my price tag is higher.”

In an interview later on in his career, Mr T opened up about the reason he ditched all the chains, explaining that the move was out of respect for the victims of 2005’s Hurricane Katrina, which decimated parts of New Orleans.

The Category 5 storm was one of the most deadly to ever hit the US and killed approximately 1,800 people.

T shared: "As a Christian, I said I would never wear my own gold again because of what happened with Hurricane Katrina.

“It would be a sin against God for me to wear my gold when so many people lost everything.”

He added: "Sure, it's my trademark, but I am the same person whether I'm wearing the gold or not. My moral values are the same. The gold don't make me, I make the gold."