Pointless host Alexander Armstrong shed 2st thanks to a ‘massive’ diet overhaul

Pointless host Alexander Armstrong shed two stone after admitting – ‘I couldn’t bear watching myself on TV.’

The comedian, 51, overhauled his diet after becoming concerned with his appearance during the early days of the hit BBC1 quiz show and credits fasting and ditching sugar, including fruit, as the main factors behind his dramatic weight loss.

And another of his secrets is skipping breakfast, describing the age-old ‘most important meal of the day’ mantra as ‘balls.’ 

‘I changed my diet massively’: Pointless host Alexander Armstrong shed two stone after admitting – ‘I couldn’t bear watching myself on TV’ (pictured in 2020) 

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Alexander said: ‘When I started doing Pointless way back in 2009 I was a good two stone heavier, I just couldn’t bear looking at myself.

‘It looked like I’d eaten all the pies on telly. So I decided I must do something about that and I changed my diet massively.’

Alexander, who is teaming up with Smart Energy GB to highlight the small steps Brits can take to do their bit for the environment, reveals he’s an advocate of the 5:2 diet which allows him to eat anything he desires for five days of the week followed by two days of consuming just 500 calories.

He says Monday and Wednesday are his usual days of fasting, but if that’s not possible he will revert to ‘intermitted fasting.’

'It looked like I'd eaten all the pies on telly': The comedian overhauled his diet after becoming concerned with his appearance during the early days of the BBC1 quiz show (pictured in 2010)

‘It looked like I’d eaten all the pies on telly’: The comedian overhauled his diet after becoming concerned with his appearance during the early days of the BBC1 quiz show (pictured in 2010)

The TV favourite said: ‘The best thing by far was fasting. I’ve been doing the 5:2 since 2012, it’s a great way of getting your health in order.

‘You’re used to hearing about these amazing miracle diets and everyone does it and after about three years everyone goes ‘oh my god you mustn’t do that it’s really bad for you’, but with fasting the data gets better and better.

‘They say it’s great for metabolism, it’s great for your cell regeneration, great for so many things.

‘It’s how we were originally designed, not to eat to such a rigid timetable, but to eat whenever is available and have long periods of not eating in between.’

New man: Overhauling his diet has given Alexander, who now weighs 12 stone, the confidence to strip off alongside TV hunks including Ashley Banjo for ITV hit The Real Full Monty

New man: Overhauling his diet has given Alexander, who now weighs 12 stone, the confidence to strip off alongside TV hunks including Ashley Banjo for ITV hit The Real Full Monty 

Dedication: Alexander said his diet includes fasting, not eating fruit, and living off of foods such as carbs, brown rice, sweet potato and butternut squash (Alexander pictured far right)

Dedication: Alexander said his diet includes fasting, not eating fruit, and living off of foods such as carbs, brown rice, sweet potato and butternut squash (Alexander pictured far right) 

Alexander, who has filmed 25 series of Pointless alongside co-host Richard Osman, tries not to eat after 6pm, but admits that’s tough, unlike not eating until lunchtime where he’ll usually treat himself to soup and a quinoa rice cake.

Asked what he thinks about breakfast being regarded as the most important meal of the day, he says: ‘That’s balls.

‘I try not to eat for as long as possible in the morning, maybe have a black tea or something.’

The father of four, who has been married to wife Hannah Bronwen Snow for nearly 20 years, says he’s now ‘almost vegetarian’ given how rarely he eats meat.

And he regards small cubes of 85 per cent dark chocolate, plus blueberries and walnuts as treats, now sugar ‘is at point of total banishment.’ 

'You learn to love it': The TV presenter said he limits himself to drinking alcohol on Friday and Saturdays and 'blueberries with walnuts' are his only 'treat' (pictured 2019)

‘You learn to love it’: The TV presenter said he limits himself to drinking alcohol on Friday and Saturdays and ‘blueberries with walnuts’ are his only ‘treat’ (pictured 2019) 

Alexander, who only drinks alcohol on Friday and Saturdays, explained: ‘Sugar, which I’m sorry to say, includes fruit.

‘Things like apples, which you think are one of the healthiest things in the world, which they are, but they’re full of fructose so you want to look at things like blueberries.

‘My go to fruit is blueberries with walnuts. It doesn’t sound particularly thrilling but you learn to love it. Fruit juice and many of those smoothy type things are packed with sugar too, so I avoid them.

‘I have carbs, brown rice, sweet potato, butternut squash. Generally, if I’m in town, there’s a handful of really good vegan and vegetarian restaurants. But I don’t eat gluten.’

Overhauling his diet has given Alexander, who now weighs 12 stone, the confidence to strip off alongside TV hunks including Ashley Banjo for ITV hit The Real Full Monty, which he’s co-hosted with the Diversity star for three specials.

But the star admits it’s unlikely he would have altered his lifestyle if he was not on TV.

He explained: ‘If you’re on telly every day you can’t help noticing you need to shed a bit. Whereas if you weren’t on telly you perhaps wouldn’t notice.

‘It’s a good thing to do in middle age, it’s a great thing to ensure you’re doing what you can to keep yourself healthy.’

Work: Alexander is working with Smart Energy GB who revealed 70 per cent of Brits' attitude towards energy saving can be influenced by the actions of their favourite TV characters

Work: Alexander is working with Smart Energy GB who revealed 70 per cent of Brits’ attitude towards energy saving can be influenced by the actions of their favourite TV characters

Alexander is working with Smart Energy GB who revealed recently 70 per cent of Brits’ attitude towards energy saving can be influenced by the actions of their favourite TV characters.

They discovered EastEnders’ Mick Carter, played by Danny Dyer, is one of the most energy efficient, unlike Line of Duty’s Steve Arnott, aka Martin Compston who is one of the worst culprits.

Alexander says seeing more unlikely eco-warriors such as Mick Carter on screen can encourage more Brits to go greener, such as managing their energy use with a smart meter.

He added: ‘It would be lovely if script writers up and down the country could think about this. It would make a massive difference. Who would have thought Mick Carter would be such a green hero – washing his dishes by himself, sometimes in the dark. It makes me love Danny Dyer even more.’ 

  • For more information visit the Smart Energy GB website
Idea: Alexander says seeing more unlikely eco-warriors such as Mick Carter on screen can encourage more Brits to go greener, such as managing their energy use with a smart meter

Idea: Alexander says seeing more unlikely eco-warriors such as Mick Carter on screen can encourage more Brits to go greener, such as managing their energy use with a smart meter