Si King’s life has always been shaped by food, but not in the glossy, indulgent way many might expect.
Growing up on a County Durham council estate in the UK, meals were less about pleasure and more about survival, routine and comfort.
When his father died suddenly, King was just eight years old, and the family dynamic changed overnight. Responsibility came early, and the kitchen became a place where grief quietly settled in.
Food, he has said, was how he and his mum coped. It was where conversations happened, and emotions were softened.
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Still, that comfort carried consequences. As the years passed, the weight crept on quickly, and by the time King was still in primary school, it was already being noticed. He became acutely aware of how his body looked and how it made him feel, long before television cameras ever followed him around the world.
By the time he reached secondary school age, the issue could no longer be ignored.
He recalled in a new interview with The Times: “Mum and I grieved around the stove,” describing how his weight increased year on year until something had to change.
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"So aged eight I weighed 8st; at nine, 9st; at ten, 10st. I was like, bloody hell, this can’t go on, or at 14, I’ll be 14st, and I won’t be able to get off the couch."
King, who also spoke to the outlet about his grief following the loss of his longtime cooking duo partner, Dave Myers, continued: “I went to WeightWatchers at 11. I was with all these grannies who were losing weight for their summer holidays in Spain…They were lovely. They’d say, ‘Our Si, you’ve lost 2lb today,’ and then they’d give me a Mars bar.”
His mum, he added, would quietly intervene, telling them: “That’s very kind of you, but he needs to lose weight for big school.”
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Those early experiences now sit behind King’s remarkably blunt view on modern weight loss treatments, including injectable jabs that have surged in popularity.
Rather than condemning or dismissing them, the Hairy Bikers star has taken a notably pragmatic stance: “If you feel better about yourself using weight loss jabs, then who am I to say you shouldn’t do it?”
It’s a position seemingly rooted in empathy rather than trying to stick with the most popular take. After all, King has never shied away from discussing how being overweight can damage confidence and self-worth, particularly when living in the public eye.
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Decades spent filming food TV shows, travelling constantly and eating on the road have only deepened his understanding of how complicated weight can be.
He said: “I’m not going to say, no, you shouldn’t do weight loss jabs… Whatever gets you through the night and makes you happy. Being overweight has an impact on your self-esteem.
"If the human race has developed something that takes weight away, so you feel better about yourself, you’re healthier and you buy the clothes you want, then who am I to say they shouldn’t do it?”
Ben Williams