Family by the Ton star Casey King has opened up about his desperation to have skin removal surgery after losing nearly 600 pounds, saying his transformation is still not complete.
The Georgia native, 38, weighed 845 pounds at his heaviest and had to bathe in an outdoor trough because he couldn’t physically fit inside a bathtub or shower.
After undergoing life-changing bariatric surgery in 2018, he is now down to 245 pounds.
On an episode of the Truly series Brand New Me, he reflected on how far he has come and his hopes for the future, including a wife and kids.
‘My lifestyle at my heaviest was kind of non-existent. I didn’t really like people. I didn’t like being seen. I didn’t like socializing,’ he explained.
‘I felt like a freak show. I didn’t shower inside. I showered in a trough tub outside for a while.’
King said he had struggled with his weight his entire life, noting that he was 12 pounds, 6 ounces when he was born.
‘My relationship with food growing up was always super toxic. I would definitely say I had a food addiction,’ he told the cameras.
After the birth of his nephew, he realized he didn’t want to be ‘this giant blob of a man’ anymore. He couldn’t lift himself off of the ground, let alone play with a child.
King recalled how he once had to call for help because he was stuck on his living room floor. His cousin and his friend had to wrap him in a sheet to hoist him onto the couch. He went to the emergency room and spent nearly five weeks in the hospital.
‘[The doctors] were like, “You’re gonna die. If you stay on this course, you will die soon,”‘ he said.
After he came home, he started going to the gym and lost weight, but he eventually gained it back. He then turned to reality television.
King weighed 711 pounds when he appeared on the second season of the TLC reality series with his three cousins in 2019. Together, the family weighed a combined total of 2,200 pounds.
King later revealed the excess skin that hangs from his arms, chest, and stomach following his weight loss, saying ‘it’s literally like a suit.’
He noted that he has been planning on having skin removal surgery for a while, but ‘people don’t understand how expensive it is.’
In January 2022, a friend started a GoFundMe page to help him raise money for the surgery. He had a goal of $15,000 and has raised more than $19,000 so far.
‘I’ve posted pictures of this on Instagram, and this is the one where people give their most unfiltered ignorance, not sparing my feelings,’ he said of his loose skin.
‘People think they’re going to tell you things like, “Just lose weight,” [and] everything will be OK. Well, guess what? I lost weight. Everything’s not perfect because now I have this,’ he added, fighting back tears. ‘I’m not done with my transformation.’
King shared that he is ‘seeing someone,’ but they aren’t officially together.
King recently opened up about his sex life in a video interview with TMZ, saying he had sex for the first time a few years ago. ‘I didn’t date before at all,’ he said.
‘I lost my virginity when I was 35, 36. I never had a girlfriend. I literally never really dated ever until this past year and a half.’
‘It’s unbelievable,’ he added. ‘Girls are pretty; they smell good. They’re fun to kiss, spend time with. Intimacy is great. Affection is great. These are literally things I was starved for my entire life.’
On a Brand New Me, he explained that there is so much more he wants to experience in his life following his weight loss.
‘Now that I’ve gotten a taste of it, I just don’t want to stop,’ he said. ‘I’m pretty proud of myself. I really am just a normal dude that wanted more from his own life.’
