Dawn French opens up about gaining weight after 50kg weight loss

Dawn French famously shed almost 50kg five years ago – but in a new interview, the funny lady reveals she’s “back to being a barrel”.

Dawn French has claimed that she’s piled her weight back on, calling herself a “barrel” after losing almost 50kg in 2014.

The 62-year-old star went on to insist that she “doesn’t give a f**k” about her changing size as she opened up in her new podcast, The Sun reports.

Speaking on the podcast French & Saunders: Titting About, French explained: “I’ve gone back to being an entire barrel but do you know what, I’m going to be 63 this year, I don’t give a f***, I really don’t, so long as I can walk.”

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Dawn French in London on September 17. Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty

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“I’m not going to be stingy to myself anymore. I never did dislike anything about my body, even when I was very, very fat. I refuse to be forced to dislike myself.

“I used to get really angry when I did lose weight, people going, ‘You look so well,’ as if you looked awful before – rewarding you for managing it, which is not easy, I accept that.

“But I didn’t want people to give me approval. It’s so patronising.”

Dawn in 2005 … Picture: Getty

… and in 2017. Picture: Getty

Despite calling herself a “barrel”, French looked trim when she stepped out in London last month, covering up in a face mask and a floating black coat.

The comedy icon first began her weight loss journey in 2014, with some believing at the time that it was a result of her 25-year marriage to Sir Lenny Henry ending four years earlier.

However, she revealed on her 30 Million Minutes tour that it was actually so she could undergo a hysterectomy.

French told fans at the time: “When I was due to have my hysterectomy the doc told me that if I could lose some weight before the op, they would be able to do it via keyhole and I would recover in three weeks or so.

Stunning on a 2009 red carpet.

Post-weight loss.

“Otherwise it would be big open surgery and three months to recover. So I set about dropping a few stone.

“No magic wand, just tiny, joyless lo-cal eating and lots more walking for weeks and weeks. It was grim. I lost seven-and-a-half stone (47kg). I could have the keyhole surgery. Great. That’s all it was, practical.”

She has been very open about her changing shape in the past, revealing that she had a “fondness for that other body”.

French was a reported 120kg at her heaviest, with it believed that she eventually lost almost 50kg in total after years of healthy eating and dedication.

This story originally appeared on The Sun and is republished here with permission.

Originally published as Dawn French opens up about gaining weight after 50kg weight loss