You probably know him as the towering, intimidating presence on The Chase. Standing at 6ft 6in with a brain like a supercomputer, Mark Labbett—better known as "The Beast"—was always defined by his size. But if you've caught a glimpse of him lately on your screen in early 2026, you might barely recognize the man. He’s essentially half the person he used to be.
Honestly, the transformation is staggering. At his heaviest back in 2003, Mark tipped the scales at a massive 29 stone (that’s 184kg or 406lbs). Fast forward to today, and he’s dropped a total of 10 stone. He’s now wearing XL shirts instead of the 5XL tents he used to require. People keep asking if he went under the knife, but the truth is actually a lot more "old school" and, frankly, a bit more relatable.
The Wake-Up Call That Changed Everything
It wasn’t just about the mirror. For a long time, Mark was that "overweight maths teacher" who just accepted his frame. But in 2016, reality hit hard. He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.
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That was the turning point. When you’re 29 stone and your blood sugar is red-lining, you don't really have a choice but to listen. He saw his colleague, Paul Sinha, tackle a similar diagnosis and knew he had to move. He didn't want to leave his son, Lawrence, without a dad because of a late-night sugar habit.
The Mark Labbett weight loss journey actually started slow. He lost about three stone before the world shut down in 2020. Then, the pandemic happened, and strangely enough, that’s when the "Beast" truly started to shrink.
Why Surgery Wasn't the Answer
Whenever a celebrity drops 140 pounds, the "gastric band" rumors start flying. Mark has been very open about this. He actually looked into it. He spoke to his GP about getting a sleeve or a band, but the medical advice was surprising.
"A gastric band is useless for me because sugar metabolises quite quickly," Mark told the press.
Basically, because his primary struggle was a sweet tooth rather than just volume of food, a physical restriction in his stomach wouldn't have stopped the sugar from hitting his bloodstream. He had to do it the hard way: a "complete nutrition overhaul."
The COVID Factor
There was also a bit of a fluke involved. Mark caught a nasty bout of what he believes was COVID-19 early on. Like many people, he lost his sense of taste and smell. For a guy who admits he had "no off button" when it came to eating, that two-week period of not wanting food sort of reset his system. His appetite never fully came back to its original "Beast" levels.
How He Actually Did It (No Gimmicks)
If you're looking for a magic pill, you won't find it here. Mark's routine is a mix of lifestyle shifts that most of us could actually do—if we had his discipline.
1. The "Golden Retriever" Workout
Mark calls his Labrador, Baloo, his personal trainer. While he was home during lockdown, he started walking the dog daily. It wasn't high-intensity interval training or marathon running. Just movement. For a guy who used to struggle with stairs because of arthritis, those walks were a game-changer for his joints.
2. The Toddler Effect
Any parent knows this one. With nurseries closed during the lockdowns, Mark was chasing a hyperactive three-year-old around the house all day. He famously said that by the time evening rolled around, he was too exhausted to go to the fridge for a snack. He just collapsed into bed.
3. Cutting the "White" Stuff
The diet was the big one. He basically nuked two things from his life:
- Refined Sugar
- High Carbs (especially pub food and chips)
He shifted to a high-protein diet. Lots of lean meat and vegetables. He also started eating breakfast, something he never did before, to keep his metabolism steady throughout the day.
The Modern Tech Edge
Lately, Mark has been using a Dexcom continuous glucose monitor (CGM). It’s a little patch on the arm that tracks blood sugar in real-time. He mentioned in an interview with OK! that seeing the data on his phone was "eye-opening." When you see a graph spike after a "cheat" snack, it makes that chocolate bar look a lot less appealing.
It's that mix of "man and dog walking in a field" and "high-tech medical monitoring" that seems to have kept the weight off for the long term.
What Most People Get Wrong
People think he’s trying to be a fitness influencer. He’s not. He’s 60 years old (as of 2025/2026). He’s admitted he’ll never be "athletic" again. For him, the Mark Labbett weight loss was about mobility. It was about being able to buy a suit off the rack without having it custom-made.
He recently mentioned he’s the smallest he’s been in 30 years. He’s hovering around the 17 to 18 stone mark now, which on a 6ft 6in frame, looks lean.
Actionable Takeaways from The Beast’s Journey
If you’re looking at Mark and wondering how to start your own shift, here’s the "Beast" blueprint:
- Audit your sugar: You don't have to quit everything, but identify the "no off button" foods. For Mark, it was chocolate and pub carbs.
- Get a "Baloo": You don't need a gym membership to start. A 30-minute walk with a dog (or just a podcast) does more for your base metabolic rate than people realize.
- Watch the data: If you're struggling with diabetes or pre-diabetes, tools like a CGM can turn abstract health goals into hard numbers you can't ignore.
- Eat for the day: Don't skip breakfast and then gorge at 9 PM. Mark found that eating early helped him kill the late-night cravings.
Mark Labbett didn't transform overnight. It took a decade of small choices, a health scare, and a lot of walking. He's proof that even if you've been "the big guy" your whole life, the script isn't written in stone. You can change the ending.
Next Steps for Your Health Journey
To keep the momentum going like Mark, focus on these three things this week:
- Protein First: Ensure every meal has a lean protein source to help manage hunger.
- Daily Movement: Aim for 20 minutes of walking, regardless of the weather.
- Blood Sugar Awareness: If you have a family history of diabetes, book a simple A1C blood test to see where you stand before you're forced to make changes.