Johnny Vegas has revealed how he decided to lose weight – after getting stuck in a tunnel.
The funnyman, 52-year-old, best known for playing Moz in Ideal and Geoff Maltby in Benidorm, said he got wedged in a tunnel on hols in Vietnam.
He said that he was “stuck fast” for around 10 minutes after his “midriff got jammed” and that it was a ‘wake up call’ about his weight.
READ MORE: BBC Breakfast guest Johnny Vegas unrecognisable as fans blown away by ‘sharp’ appearance
At his heaviest, 5ft 7in-tall Johnny weighed in at around 18 stone but is now down to around 12-13 stone after ditching treats like bread and cheese.
(Image: Getty Images)
Speaking about the tunnel incident, he said he was in a place called Ha Long Bay in northeast Vietnam on his honeymoon with Maïa Dunphy in 2011 when he got stuck.
The network of tunnels – extending hundred of miles underground – were built by the Viet Cong in the 1940s as protection from French bombers in the French Indochina War between 1946-1954.
(Image: Getty Images Contributor)
The tunnels were used again during the Vietnam War, which raged from 1955 until 1975.
Speaking at the weekend, Johnny, now separated from Maïa, said: “Ha Long Bay was spectacular…but I had a bit of a mishap when we visited one of those underground tunnel systems the Viet Cong used to hide in during the Vietnam War.
“I was told they’d dug a larger tunnel to show Westerners, but I still got wedged in it.
(Image: PA)
“I got my legs through but then my midriff jammed.”
He added: “I was there for ten minutes (and) people were like ‘Shall we go and get help?’ and I was like ‘No, I can do this, please, just pull my arms’.”
Speaking in the Travel supplement in The Sunday Times this weekend, he said it was a “wake up call” about his weight.
He added: “It was a positive thing in the end, though. One of those wake-up call moments about my health.”
For the latest breaking news and stories from across the globe from the Daily Star, sign up for our newsletter by clicking here
