Emmerdale Bear star’s transformation and weight loss ahead of break from soap

Emmerdale’s Joshua Richards, famed for his portrayal of Bear Wolf, has spoken out about shedding an incredible four stone and reversing his Type 2 diabetes.

Slimming down from 17 and a half stone to just 13 and a half stone over two years, the TV star believes in the power of diet over quick fixes.

Josh attributed his former heft to an indulgence in Quality Street chocolates, playfully pointing the finger at his hometown Halifax – the origin of these sinful sweets.

Speaking to The Mirror, he recalled: “It has to be Quality Street, because I live in Halifax, where they’re made. My health wasn’t too good. And I was tucking into all the wrong meals from Emmerdale catering like lasagne and chips!”

Emmerdale star Joshua Richards has opened up about his weight loss transformation(Image: Mike Marsland/WireImage)

Spurred on by his wife’s encouragement, Josh plunged into a healthier lifestyle. He holds Dr Meghan Rossi’s book Eat More Live Well as instrumental in his weight-loss journey, propelling him towards more veggies, fibre, and probiotics such as kefir.

Josh recounted: “We read a book by Dr Meghan Rossi called Eat More Live Well – and that really helped me lose the weight.”

“I did what it told me. I ate more vegetables, more fibre and looked after my gut health. I drank a lot of kefir – a fermented milk drink similar to yogurt – and now I longer need to take tablets for my blood pressure.”

Josh is a firm believer in achieving weight loss through diet alone, sceptical of weight loss injections due to insufficient research.

Emmerdale star Joshua Richards has opened up about his weight loss transformation

He proudly states: “You can take all this weight off without taking weight loss jabs.

“There’s not enough research on them. I’m living proof you can do it. I don’t exercise, because I have a bad back, so it’s all through diet.”

His return to Emmerdale after some time away was met with surprise from colleagues who immediately noticed his slimmer figure.

Recounting their reactions, he says: “I remember coming back to Emmerdale because I was off for a bit, and when people haven’t seen you for a while, they really notice. They said, ‘Oh, you’ve lost weight. How did you do that? And I said, ‘Well, I’ve kept away from you. That must help!’

Bear moved to Emmerdale in 2019 as the father of Paddy Kirk (Dominic Brunt) He’s since moved in with his son and his wife Mandy Dingle (Lisa Riley).

During a recent press day, producer Laura Show confirmed that Bear has a big storyline coming up end of summer, early autumn this year.

While not much can be said about his big storyline yet, Laura admitted he’ll be “off-screen for a little while and he’s going to go missing.”