At 69, ‘Seinfeld’ Star Wayne Knight Details 110-Pound Weight Loss
Seinfeld star Wayne Knight opened up about his 110-pound weight loss.
“[I’ve tried] everything anyone could ever try,” he said.
The transformation has happened over many years.
Wayne Knight’s weight loss story is a reminder that transformation takes time. The Seinfeld star, now 69, was recently stopped by TMZ and asked how he lost 110 pounds over his career.
As if in character, Knight approached his answers jokingly. “[I’ve tried] everything anyone could ever try, from therapy to drugs to surgery to radiation to being taken by aliens,” he said, adding that the weight loss took place over a “period of many years.” And amidst all of those efforts, only “one of them worked,” he said. Which one, you ask? “I don’t know,” he laughed.
TMZ then asked if the most effective weight loss method for Knight happened to be “the old-fashioned way,” referring to a reduced calorie intake and exercise. “What do you mean? Like, not eating?” Knight replied. “Yes, that does work.” He added that he also was going to the gym regularly, but stopped due to paparazzi encounters.
Over the last three decades, Knight’s weight has fluctuated. He joked that his overall loss was “7,000 pounds.” “I lose 10, I gain 50, I lose 100, I gain 12,” he explained. “From like, Jurassic Park ’til now, it’s about 110 pounds.” (Knight played Nedry in the 1993 Jurassic Park.)
The actor started his weight loss journey with the goal of improving his health, he told CBS News in 2004. And, because he was often typecast as the big funny guy, the change impacted his career “in a bad way,” he told TMZ. It’s a hurdle that he’s still trying to overcome now.
“It takes time. It takes time for people to accept you as you are, and they find out whether or not you can still do things without being fat,” he explained. “It’s just what it is. You just have to accept the fact that you can’t sell something that you’re not.”
When Knight opened up about his weight loss to CBS, he said that he worked with a trainer, psychiatrist, support group, and meal delivery service after his doctor told him he was “heading towards death” with an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. “It scared me, literally to life,” Knight said, sharing that he struggled with emotional eating, which led to weight gain.
“I used to have a tan from the light in the refrigerator. I would just know there was something in there that will be the answer,” he said. Now, he never wants to go back. “[I] stand before you and like anyone with any addiction and say, ‘I’m done, I’m clean, and I’m going to stay clean for the rest of my life,’” he said. “Let’s hope.”
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