Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Ashley’s saved my life twice in weight battles
Diversity’s Jordan Banjo tribute to bro
DIVERSITY star Jordan Banjo has said brother Ashley saved his life twice in his battle with his weight.
Dancing on Ice judge Ashley, 32, first stepped in after Jordan ballooned to over 22 stone as a morbidly obese teenager.
Jordan then lost weight on a strict diet and exercise regime – but Ashley had to stage a second intervention when that too spiralled out of control.
Dad-of-two Jordan, 28, said: “It’s no secret that I struggled with my weight.
“But what I’ve never spoken about is how I went too far the other way.”
Jordan was 13 when a doctor declared him morbidly obese and urged him to do something about it. But he refused to listen, continuing to down fizzy drinks and sugary snacks and hitting out at anyone who mentioned his weight.
Finally, just before his 18th birthday and weighing over 22 stone, he turned to his big brother for help.
Jordan said: “I turned to Ash because I knew I was either going to have to do something about my weight or things were going to get way, way worse.
“Ash was brilliant. He helped me rethink my diet and put together a workout routine. The weight came off pretty quickly.”
By this time Diversity were touring the country after winning Britain’s Got Talent in 2009.
The compliments poured in as Jordan lost nearly half his body weight.
But he said: “No matter what I looked like in the mirror, I always thought I could lose more weight. Ash had set me on a good path but he’s super busy, so he’d left me to get on with it on my own.
“When you’ve been that big and you lose so much weight, that quick, it’s not like everything is easy and you’re just there looking ripped, you know? I had to work hard to try and maintain it.
“But all I could think about was losing more weight, and it got out of control.”
Soon he was eating just a bowl of cereal and a chicken breast per day, leaving him with so little energy he could hardly string a sentence together, let alone train in the gym. He could do just enough to get through rehearsals for a Christmas tour, when the sudden change in his appearance shocked fans. The 6ft 5in star said: “We’d done a tour at the start of the year and I’d been at my heaviest, but by the time we came back to do a Christmas series of shows the same year, I’d lost it all.
“My name was announced and I walked on stage past an old picture of me where I was over 20 stone.
“I was 12 stone at this point and
I remember walking on stage and no one cheered. They all looked confused.
“Ash had to get on the microphone and make a joke about how I looked different from my picture on screen – it’s only then that people realised it was me.”
Ashley had been worried about his brother, but that toe-curling moment was the push he needed to step in.
Jordan said: “It took a lot for me to ask for help that first time, but he had my back – and he had it again when I’d got out of control. Ash saved my life at both ends of the scale – literally.”
Jordan says he is now 17 stone, having educated himself on what he needs to do to stay healthy for his shape and height.
It makes him the perfect host for new Channel 4 show Lose Weight Like Me, alongside Dr Sara Kayat. The show introduces four “health heroes” to participants Jamie, 35, and Kathleen, 52, who both want to make lifestyle changes.
The health heroes are members of the public who each lost up to 200lbs on safe and sustainable weight loss plans.
Lose Weight Like Me is broadcast on Channel 4 on January 19 at 8pm.
I walked on and no one cheered. They all looked confused JORDAN BANJO TELLS OF HIS EXTREME WEIGHT LOSS