James Argent is now putting weight back on after dramatic dip left him 'too skinny'

James Argent has revealed that he is now choosing to gain weight after his dramatic 14-stone dip over the last year left him "too skinny".

The former TOWIE star had gastric sleeve surgery in April 2021, which involves removing a large amount of the stomach until it is only around 15% of its original size.

Read more: James Argent reveals before and after photos on op anniversary

Argent underwent the procedure after being warned by doctors that his 27-stone weight was causing health problems that could eventually kill him.

On Friday's episode of Good Morning Britain — reported via Daily Mail — Argent revealed that he is now at a much healthier weight after a year of working to improve himself.

"I lost a total of 14 stone. I think I lost a little bit too much weight. I used to want to be skinny but now I've put a stone back on, I'm at a healthy balanced weight," he said.

Argent appeared on the show as part of its 1 Million Minutes campaign, which aims to combat loneliness in elderly and vulnerable people by encouraging volunteers to pledge just 15 minutes of their time.

Read more: James Argent says his relapse was caused by loneliness

The 35-year-old star confessed he found himself in "a really dark place" three years ago at Christmas due to his drink and drug addiction.

He said: "I distanced myself from other people, I was very isolated and stuff like that. I was lucky to have lots of close family and friends but you've got to reach out and speak to people.

"You've got to want it yourself. There are people who lose their children, their job, their girlfriend leaves them but sometimes its not enough and you've got to this rock bottom, and not everyone makes it from there."

Argent rose to fame as one of the inaugural cast members on The Only Way is Essex, appearing on the reality series between 2010 and 2018.

Read more: James Argent encourages addicts to try therapy

On the show, he dated co-star Lydia Bright for several years and subsequently had a high-profile on-off relationship with Gemma Collins.

Since his TOWIE days, Argent has appeared on reality shows including The Jump, Celebs Go Dating and Celebrity Coach Trip.

Watch: James Argent says he will address excess skin after weight loss