Newsreader Huw Edwards says depression saw his weight balloon to 16-and-a-half stone - but boxing got him fighting fit again.
The BBC broadcaster blamed comfort eating for him piling on the pounds.
The death of his father in 2010 saw Huw turn to junk food to "numb his emotional pain".
But the 58-year-old has now shifted three stone and it's all thanks to former boxer Clinton McKenzie.
The father-of-five opened up to the Times' Saturday Magazine about the death of dad Hywel, 75, a decade ago to cancer.
"It was a proper kind of depression," said the Welsh newsman.
"It was about how I felt and where I felt I was - my dad and everything. I felt it had become rather overwhelming.
"The worst thing was I felt I couldn't do anything about anything. I felt a bit helpless."
He took his wife Vicky's advice and asked light welterweight champ McKenzie to get him into shape.
His mental health significantly improved - and Huw says getting in the right was one of his best decisions.
"By 2016, I had put on a lot of weight and I felt dreadful," he added.
"It's like a drug. I'd eat when I wasn't hungry. I wasn't doing any fitness. I was grazing, watching telly and eating stuff, even though I didn't need it."
He then advised people to 'eat sensibly'.
"if you want a pint or a glass of wine, that's fine. Just don't overdo it and don't eat' – in his words – 'sugary s***'."
He explained that getting physically fit had made him become mentally more robust.
Huw revealed in April he has been fighting pneumonia in hospital.
The veteran broadcaster hpraised staff at Kings College Hospital in Camberwell, London.
