Neil 'Razor' Ruddock has hit back at trolls who have accused him of 'cheating' his nearly 10 stone weight loss.
The former footballer, 56, had life-saving gastric sleeve surgery in 2021 after being told by doctors he had just three months to live.
In a candid interview with Loaded, Neil recalls how his weight crept up to 28 stone with secret fast food binges and it wasn't until he went to see a specialist about his heart, that he had a worrying wake up call.
'The bigger I got, the lazier I became. I’ve spoken about what I call ‘mad, bad, sad, glad, disease. That's all the emotions you can have,' he said.
'Food and drink made me happy, so I used to eat and drink just to make myself happy and it spiralled well out of control. Not just my physical health, but mental health as well. And then I felt bit dizzy and went to see a specialist and it was my heart. I was told I had three months to live.And that was a big kick up the backside.'
'They can f**k off!': Neil 'Razor' Ruddock has hit back at trolls who have accused him of 'cheating' his nearly 10 stone weight loss (pictured right in 2019)
Razor, who now is down to 18.5 stone, explained it was his wife Leah who suggested a gastric sleeve which involves removing part of the stomach.
He said: 'I ended up having a pacemaker and the gastric sleeve to save my life. I’m 10 stone down now, but I still get the odd critic having a bash at me.
'People say, "Yeah, you've lost 10 stone, but you cheated. Yeah I cheated. I cheated death. For all the trolls out there, I cheated death. That's all I cheated. And it saved my life. All the trolls can F off. I had no choice.'
During the height of his weight battle, Neil would have two bacon and egg toasted sandwiches before raiding the fridge at 11am.
If his wife Leah had stocked the fridge with healthy treats, Neil would travel to KFC or McDonald's and secretly binge.
He confessed: 'Iwas secretly eating. I'd go out to work and she'd say, "What are you eating?" I'd say "I haven't eaten a lot". I was lying to the one that I love, the person in the world I love the most. If you're lying to them, you're lying to yourself.'
Neil said it was when he retired that his weight gain spiralled out of control after being on a diet for 30 years during his football career.
Speaking of how his diet has changed since the life-changing surgery, Neil said it now consists of fish, potatoes, bean burgers and vegetarian options.
During the height of his weight battle, Neil would have two bacon and egg toasted sandwiches before raiding the fridge at 11am but now he has vegetables and lots of fish
'Food and drink made me happy, so I used to eat and drink just to make myself happy and it spiralled well out of control. Not just my physical health, but mental health as well', he said
'People say, "Yeah, you've lost 10 stone, but you cheated. Yeah I cheated. I cheated death. For all the trolls out there, I cheated death. That's all I cheated', he said
Neil's weight loss journey was kickstarted after receiving major health warnings on ITV documentary Harry's Heroes. He lost 1.5stone with Musclefood back in 2019
Neil said it was when he retired that his weight gain spiralled out of control after being on a diet for 30 years during his football career
He has also upped his exercise regime going from doing nothing at all to dog walks, hitting the gym and going swimming.
Neil said: 'I could lose more, but I feel comfortable. I've got arthritis in both knees, but I can't feel that now I’m smaller. Now I can get around, so I'm happy. And clothes fit me. The most frustrating thing about being overweight was that I couldn't buy any clothes.'
Elsewhere in the interview, Neil spoke about the importance of men speaking out for the sake of their mental health and how he wanted to be the host of an all male version of ITV's daytime show Loose Women.
'I managed to fight my way through it, but like I said, there’s nothing for men out there at all. That’s why we need Loose Men.
'Men need to keep each other on the straight and narrow. When I was overweight, I thought I looked alright.
'I see pictures of me now and I think I looked disgusting. But at the time, I was closed off and I couldn't understand the problem. I was in such a mentally strange place that appearance didn't even cross my mind.'
