Anthony Anderson knew he was gaining weight. He just didn’t know the effects the extra weight was having on his health.
The actor, comedian and producer gets candid about his health journey this week on the season 7 premiere of the TV One interview series, Uncensored.
In the episode airing Feb. 19, Anderson said he started to feel sick after he finished filming the 2003 movie, Kangaroo Jack. At the time, he was working nonstop.
“We were promoting the film. I was in 14 cities in 16 days. I had created my very first television show, All About the Andersons,” he said. “I was in pre-production for that, and I was taking meetings all around town. All of this was happening at the same time.”
Anderson, 55, said he started to feel “lethargic.”
“I’m taking midday naps. I could be sitting on the couch and I would fall asleep during the commercials. Things like that had never happened to me before,” he recalled.
After constantly feeling thirsty, he started to wonder if he’d developed type 2 diabetes and called his doctor.
“I was like, ‘I think I have diabetes.’ I knew what the symptoms were,” he said. “I went to the doctor, and my glucose level was 246, it was some ridiculous number. The normal glucose level for anybody’s like 85.”
The actor said he was initially in denial about his weight and health problems.
“I was 30 years old. I was always a big dude. I never saw myself as fat. I could dance, I could do the splits, I could do all that. I could play basketball. I was athletic,” he said. “The crazy part was I was so athletic and agile at that size,” he said. “I remember going to my doctor, and I was like, ‘Doc, I got big bones.'”
The doctor told him there was no such thing as “big bones,” and urged him to make lifestyle changes. Yet Anderson said he was resistant.
“One day I was sitting on set, it was just crazy. I just went down a rabbit hole of Anthony Anderson fat pictures. That’s when I realized I needed to make a change, and I wanted to talk about it publicly,” he shared.
Anderson has since lost more than 47 pounds. He previously told People magazine, “I started eating healthier and in moderation.”
The Hollywood star discusses more about his health journey on Uncensored, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026 at 8PM/7C on TV One.
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