Neil “Razor” Ruddock has credited James ‘Arg’ Argent for inspiring his seven stone weight loss..The 54-year-old retired footballer and reality TV star has had a gastric sleeve fitted after reaching 27 stone and suffering heart problems.Ruddock told Good Morning Britain: "I found out I had a bad heart, now I've got a pacemaker, so I was looking to get myself fit, or fitter and lose weight.

Video transcript

NEIL RUDDOCK: Oh, yes. I mean, I've gone over seven stone now. So that-- suddenly I weighed in, and I was seven stone. But yeah, it all started with "Harry's Heroes," the TV show where I found out that I had a bad heart.

And I'd proceed to stop my heart, restart my heart. Now, I've got a pacemaker. So I was always looking to get myself fit or fitter and lose weight. And then COVID hit.

And I've just become a lazy slob, sat on me armchair, eating and drinking. I think-- I always named it like bad, sad, glad, mad syndrome. If I was mad, I'd eat and drink. If I was sad, I'd eat and drink.

If I was back glad, I'd eat and drink and so and so. Every sort of situation that I've found myself in, I always had to excuse to eat and drink. And it just snowballed from there.

And I couldn't get myself out of it. And then I bumped into [INAUDIBLE], a beautiful man he is, a cherry football gamer. [INAUDIBLE] And he told me his story, and that was it. He made my mind up now.

And as I say, he's-- I'm not me finishing line yet. I'm still losing weight. And so hopefully I'll catch Arg up because at the minute he looks like a racing snake. He looks unbelievable.

- Doesn't he? You look great. Arg, just explain what this surgery involves in a way that you can at this time of the morning and how it has been better for you and obviously for Neil than simply dieting and exercising?

JAMES ARGENT: Well, I mean, my story is almost identical to Neil. I've battled with weight throughout my whole life, going up and down. And in lock down, it reached to a point of no return, and that was when I knew that I had to do something long term.

So I had a gastric sleeve surgery, which basically means 70% of my stomach's been removed. And the gastric sleeve surgery really helps with portion control.

Now, it's not a surgery. It's not a miracle worker. It doesn't mean you're just going to lose all your weight overnight. There still is a lot of work that has to go in it.

I mean, if I wanted to, I could still have small portions of bad food or eat little and often of bad food. And in that case, I wouldn't lose any weight, or I would just maintain the weight I am. So I've really had to change my lifestyle completely.

The surgery doesn't work miracles. It's down to Neil and myself to eat good food, to drink plenty of water, to still eat good things, to still get down the gym. Don't get me wrong, it does help with portion control.

- Presumably.

JAMES ARGENT: But there's still a lot of work to put in after surgery.