Everyone remembers the first time they saw the "new" Scott Thompson. You’re flipping through channels or scrolling through old-school celebrity gossip sites, and suddenly, the skinny, frizzy-haired prop comic from the 1-800-CALL-ATT commercials looks like he could bench press a small sedan. The internet went into a collective meltdown. People started screaming about carrot top on steroids before the man could even finish his set at the Luxor. It was a jarring transformation, honestly. One day he’s pulling a giant paperclip out of a trunk, and the next, his deltoids are the size of bowling balls and his veins are popping like a roadmap of the Vegas Strip.
But here is the thing about celebrity transformations: we love a simple narrative. We want to point a finger and say "juice." It’s easy. It’s convenient. Yet, when you actually look at the timeline of his physical shift and listen to what the man himself has said over the last two decades, the reality is a lot more nuanced—and frankly, a lot more obsessive—than just a needle in the locker room.
The Vegas Shift and the Hyper-Focus on Iron
When Scott "Carrot Top" Thompson landed his long-term residency in Las Vegas, his lifestyle changed fundamentally. Most people don't realize how grueling a nightly residency is. You aren't traveling. You aren't living out of a suitcase. You have a routine. For Thompson, that routine became the gym. He has gone on record multiple times, including a very candid interview with Rolling Stone and several appearances on The Joe Rogan Experience, explaining that he simply traded one obsession for another.
He didn't just "work out." He became a gym rat of the highest order.
"I just got addicted to working out," he told Penn Jillette on the Penn's Sunday School podcast. It wasn't about being a bodybuilder for competition; it was about the ritual. He was eating massive amounts of protein and lifting heavy, heavy weights every single day for hours. When you combine a naturally thin, "ectomorph" frame with a sudden, caloric surplus and high-volume hypertrophy training, the visual change is going to be drastic.
The public didn't see the slow climb. They saw the "before" and "after" photos side-by-side, which made the carrot top on steroids rumors catch fire like a dry brush in the Nevada desert.
Why the Face Changed (and Why People Guessed Steroids)
It wasn't just the biceps. It was the face. That’s usually what tips people off to chemical enhancement or cosmetic work. In Thompson's case, his face became remarkably smooth and tight at the same time his body grew. This "uncanny valley" effect led to a lot of speculation about human growth hormone (HGH).
HGH is known in bodybuilding circles for its ability to reduce body fat while maintaining muscle mass, but it can also lead to changes in facial bone structure or a "bloated" look if misused. However, Thompson has largely attributed his facial changes to the natural aging process mixed with a bit of laser skin resurfacing and the typical grooming habits of a Vegas headliner. He's been open about having "stuff done" to his skin, but he’s stayed firm on the muscle being a product of the iron.
Examining the Evidence and the Denial
Has he ever admitted to it? No. In fact, he’s been quite the opposite. He’s poked fun at the rumors himself, often incorporating his own muscularity into his act. He’s joked about being "the most jacked prop comic in the world."
If you look at his physique during his peak "bulky" phase—roughly around 2005 to 2010—he showed many of the hallmarks of a dedicated natural lifter who has perhaps pushed their body to its absolute genetic limit. He had the "pumped" look, sure. But he lacked the massive, "traps-to-the-ears" look often associated with heavy androgenic steroid use. His shoulders were big, but they weren't the "3D cannons" you see on an IFBB Pro.
There's also the "look at his age" argument. Maintaining that much mass in your 40s and 50s is incredibly difficult without some kind of hormonal optimization. This is where the line between "illegal steroids" and "Doctor-prescribed TRT" (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) gets very blurry in the modern era. While there is no public record of Thompson using TRT, it is a common reality for many men in the public eye who want to maintain a certain vitality as they age.
The Psychology of the Transformation
Why do it? Why would a comedian want to look like an action star?
Comedy is an insecure business. Las Vegas is an even more insecure city. Thompson has talked about the pressure of the stage. For him, the gym was a place of control. You can't control if a joke lands every single night, but you can control how many reps you do on the bench press. It’s a common story in Hollywood. People get "big" because it provides a suit of armor against the world.
The carrot top on steroids talk actually bothered him for a while. It overshadowed the work he was doing on stage. People stopped talking about his trunk of inventions and started talking about his supplement stack. It’s a classic case of the "spectacle" eclipsing the "performer."
Scaling Back: The Carrot Top of Today
If you see him now, things have changed again. He’s leaned out significantly. The "bulky" era is over. He’s still fit—definitely more muscular than the average guy in his late 50s—but the "mass monster" look has faded.
This is actually a strong indicator that his previous size was a result of a specific, perhaps unsustainable, lifestyle of extreme lifting and overeating. Most people who use heavy cycles of anabolic steroids either stay on or they "crash" and lose a significant amount of muscle mass very quickly. Thompson has aged into a more athletic, "wiry" strength.
He told Conan O'Brien that he eventually just stopped lifting so heavy because it hurt. His joints were screaming. His back was sore. He moved toward more cardio and lighter weights, and the "steroid" look evaporated. It turns out, when you stop trying to look like a comic book character, you stop looking like you're on performance enhancers.
What We Can Learn From the Speculation
The obsession with whether a celebrity is "natty" (natural) or "enhanced" says more about us than them. We want to believe there’s a shortcut because it excuses our own lack of progress. If Carrot Top is on steroids, then I don't have to feel bad about my own lack of biceps, right?
But the truth is usually boring. It’s usually just a guy with too much time on his hands, a high-end gym membership, and a compulsive personality.
- Consistency is King: Regardless of what he did or didn't take, you don't get that size without thousands of hours in the gym. There is no pill that replaces the work.
- The "Vegas Effect": Environment dictates behavior. When your neighbors are Cirque du Soleil performers and showgirls, your "normal" for fitness shifts drastically.
- The Aging Factor: Hormone levels change. What worked at 35 won't work at 55. Thompson’s transition to a leaner look is a healthy blueprint for aging gracefully after a period of extreme physical stress.
- Public Perception is Permanent: Once the internet decides you’re the "steroid guy," you’re that guy forever. Even a decade after leaning down, the search terms remain.
Moving Forward With a Balanced Perspective
If you’re looking to change your own physique, don't look at the extreme outliers like the mid-2000s Carrot Top. Look at the consistency. If you’re worried about your own hormonal health as you age, the best step isn't speculating on what a comedian did; it's getting a blood panel from a legitimate endocrinologist.
Check your testosterone levels. Look at your vitamin D and magnesium. Get a baseline of where your body actually is before you try to "optimize" anything.
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Stop scrolling through celebrity "transformation" galleries that use lighting and filters to sell a lie. Instead, focus on a progressive overload program and a high-protein diet that you can actually stick to for more than three weeks. Most "transformations" are just the result of finally staying consistent for three years instead of three months.
Focus on your own "trunk of props"—the tools you have at your disposal—and stop worrying about the chemical makeup of a guy telling jokes in a neon-lit theater in Nevada. Real health is found in the middle ground, somewhere between the skinny kid and the guy the internet thinks is a science experiment.