Diversity star Jordan Banjo has returned to the jungle for the new spin off series of I'm a Celebrity.. Get Me Out Of Here! in South Africa and he looks more in shape than ever.
The British street dancer who previously finished ninth on the sixteenth season of the reality TV show in 2016 returned to our screens on Monday evening showing off his new toned physique.
The Essex lad looks almost unrecognisable compared to recent years after his weight spiralled out of control during lockdown, causing him to gain three and a half stone.
Here we take a look at Jordan's weight loss journey over the years and how he successfully managed to shed the pounds.
The co-host of the KISS weekday breakfast show opened up about his weight gain as he explained how he was eating out of boredom and had stopped dancing during the Covid pandemic.
Banjo revealed on Loose Women last month that he embarked on a weight loss journey after he was 'fat shamed' by a stranger.
However, it's not the first time that Banjo has battled weight issues over the years as it was previously revealed that the dancer was also clinically obese as a teenager.
Child obesity
Banjo is almost half the weight he used to be as a young boy after he tipped the scales at 21 stone when he was just 15-years-old. The street dancer was told by a doctor that he was morbidly obese with a BMI of 34.9.
The BGT winner was addicted to fizzy juice and would drink up to eight litres of coca cola a day at his largest when he was pushing a 46 inch waist.
The medical professional reportedly told him: "Look you are morbidly obese, you either start making some serious lifestyle changes or you’re gonna have some serious health problems."
Jordan was motivated to turn his life around after his weight threatened to sabotage his dance career.
I'm a Celeb 2016
Jordan appeared on the sixteenth season of I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and was the fourth contestant to leave camp before Googlebox's Scarlett Moffat bagged the crown.
The dancer appeared lean and healthy in the Australian jungle back in 2016 as his steamy showers were watched by googly-eyed viewers across the nation.
However, the star's weight problems seemed to catch up with him again in the years to come as the Covid-19 pandemic hit and he found himself binge eating and succumbing to unhealthy habits again.
Lockdown weight gain
The dancer put on a serious amount of weight again during the first lockdown in 2020. Banjo revealed that during this period he put on three and a half stone after he found himself overeating out of 'boredom'.
Jordan opened up about his body struggles ahead of the new ITV spin off I'm a celeb show to My London. He confessed: "I put on three and a half stone....I wasn't dancing as much, I wasn't anywhere near as active."
"I was like with the kids, 'oh you're not eating that, I'll finish that'. I was eating out of boredom as well. I'd be polishing off crisps here and there, just eating out of boredom."
Banjo appeared on the special Loose Men edition of the ITV chat show and spoke of the moment he realised his weight had gone too far when he was 'fat shamed' by a stranger in a van.
Speaking to Andi Peters, Ore Oduba and The Chase's Shaun Wallace, Jordan said: "I put on a lot of weight and it took me ages to shift it again. I came out of my radio show and this guy pulls up in a van next to me.
"He puts his window down and goes, 'Wahey – can tell you haven't been dancing for a while!' That stuff hurts. For the next month I didn't want to go out. I was like, are people going to recognise me from being in Diversity, but think, Oh, he's too big?' It genuinely really affected me."
Weight loss journey
Jordan said his physical health began to improve again thanks to the help of his Diversity co-stars and the lift of the lockdown which meant he could get back to dancing ahead of the street dance group's UK tour.
Speaking of his supportive crew, he said: "I’m very fortunate that it’s part of my job to stay healthy. We all egg each other on and help each other in terms of getting in the right shape that we need to be for tour."
Jordan shared a proud before and after snap of his remarkable transformation to Instagram as he captioned the post: "Still shocks me when I see this."
His Diversity colleague and KISS FM Breakfast co-host Perri Kiely showed his support on his post, commenting: "My bro."
After his remarkable transformation, Banjo went on to replace Gregg Wallace on BBC show Eat Well For Less.
Jordan has now returned to the jungle in great shape and will be up against fellow campmates including Amir Khan, Helen Flanagan, Fatima Whitbread and Shaun Ryder in this year's special spin off series.
The 30-year-old will also be reunited with Carol Vorderman in the camp who also appeared on the 2016 season of the show.
The new season comes as the now father-of-three recently welcomed his baby boy Atreus Funso Banjo into the world with his wife, Naomi Courts.
Little Atreus was born on April 20, only days before the prerecorded new spin off I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! returned to our screens on Monday evening.
I'm A Celebrity... South Africa continues tomorrow at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here .
