British comedy icon has astonished fans with his incredible three stone weight loss after heeding a stark warning from his doctor about his health risks. At 65 years of age, Sir Lenny still feels the loss of his mother Winifred, who tragically succumbed to complications of uncontrolled Type 2 back in 1998. His medical team cautioned him that without urgent changes to his diet and exercise routine, he was on track to suffer a similar fate.

The cherished impressionist has disclosed that the moment he realised change was imperative was when daily tasks like getting in and out of his car became a struggle. Henry lamented the toll disease has taken on his family, saying: "My mum lost two legs through diabetes and eventually died from it, so I knew I had to lose weight. The doctor warned me I was heading the same way."

Sir Lenny initially embarked on a lifestyle overhaul in 2011, stemming from his commitment to Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors. The production demanded four hours of strenuous physical rehearsals each day, prompting him to shed excess weight as he didn't "want to be a heffalump running around the stage", reports .

To bolster his fitness, Sir Lenny turned to Ashtanga yoga and jogging while also cutting sugar from his diet and moderating his alcohol consumption. He acknowledged: "Dieting is tedious, but I feel better for it".

Thankfully his dedication didn't fade with the final curtain call. The star continued to embrace healthy living; adding dancing, Pilates, and even military workouts into his regime.

Nevertheless, the relentless battle with the scales re-emerged the following year, leading Sir Lenny to adopt another strict diet in 2014.

In a chat with , Lenny revealed: "I'm a bit diabetic so I was put on a very strict diet. I've lost between two and a half and three stone. I was big."

Discussing his dietary changes, he shared: "It's lots of greens, lots of juice and lots of walking. Swimming is good. You've got to eat no sugar and drink hardly any alcohol... all the stuff you like. You can't Hobnob your way through the day".

This time the diet stuck, and Lenny managed to maintain his new healthier weight. In a 2015 interview with , he admitted: "It's hard, but like anything, if you put your mind to it, you can do it."

In 2018 the adoptive father-of-one was cast as a Jamaican plantation slave in the BBC series , and felt the need to lose more weight for the role.

To slim down further, Lenny adopted a strict vegetarian diet, and shed an additional three stone. He told the Mirror at the time: "What's my secret? Well, it's eating broccoli and not much else. I've also been running a lot. It has worked."

At the in 2022, he received the Special Recognition Award, with fans noting his significant weight loss.

Lenny also appeared noticeably slimmer when he took on the role of Sadoc in the 2022 Amazon Prime series .

In an exclusive chat with , the comedian shared: "I try to work and go to the gym and eat healthy and do what everyone else does but when I'm working and writing I get so consumed by it so I do try".