WEIGHING in at a whopping 462 pounds, “Biggest Loser” hopeful Ruben Studdard is down to his last chance to lose weight, friends fear.
“If he doesn’t diet, he’ll die,” a source told The ENQUIRER. “It’s that simple – and he knows it.”
The 6-foot-3 “American Idol” champ was already huge when he won Season 2 of the FOX show in 2003, but he packed on even more weight after that. He dropped nearly 65 pounds while in a weight-loss program in 2006 but started gaining again after filing for divorce from his wife, Surata “Zuri” McCants, in 2011.
Now, the “Velvet Teddy Bear” weighs nearly as much as two giant pandas!
“Ruben’s weight is extremely unhealthy and dangerous,” said retired physician Dr. Gabe Mirkin, author of “The Healthy Heart Miracle,” who has not treated Studdard. And leading New York weight-loss specialist Dr. Craig Title, who hasn’t treated the singer, warned that the 35-year-old might not make it to his 40th birthday.
As The ENQUIRER previously reported, Ruben won’t be in the clear until he’s under 300 pounds – and he knows what he’s got to do, says the source.
“Being overweight causes health issues, and I don’t want any of them,” Ruben said. “I don’t want to be diabetic. I don’t want high blood pressure. I don’t want to have bad cholesterol.”
Meanwhile, since Ruben beat Clay Aiken to take home the top prize on “Idol,” he’s had a tough time maintaining his popularity.
“On each successive record, he sold fewer and fewer copies, and his marriage and lifestyle suffered,” noted an insider.
Now the popular NBC weight-loss show is giving him one last chance to conquer his bulk. But the fat isn’t all trainer Jillian Michaels wants him to lose – she also told him to wax his back!
“Jillian is a hater,” Ruben said after Jillian poked fun at his hairy back and shoulders. “I don’t appreciate that.
“I think everything about Ruben Studdard is sexy!”
