James Argent looks slimmer than ever with Towie co-star Joey Essex after revealing he’s desperate to gain weight

JAMES Argent looked slimmer than ever with Towie co-star Joey Essex after revealing he's desperate to gain weight.

The 36-year-old appeared in good spirits as the friends reunited on holiday.

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Chiselled James beamed in the photo with fellow original Towie cast member Joey, 33, who also looked different from his days on the ITVbe reality show with a fresh buzzcut.

The pair tucked into plates of healthy salad atop steak tartar.

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY

It comes after James said he wanted to eat more to gain weight after losing 14 stone two years ago.

Reflecting on how far he's come, he said last month: "I think you’ve got to be quite careful if it’s about someone looking healthy.

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"I think – I used to say to myself, 'the more weight you lose the better,” so the skinnier you are the better, but that isn’t actually the case because there are times when you’re too skinny."

James added: "And even now I’m trying to up my protein a little bit and trying to gain a little bit more."

His past battle with drink, drugs and a binge-eating disorder has been well documented over the years.

This is the first time in my life that I like the way I look too - I don’t feel ugly anymore - I’m content and happy with my appearance

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James needed life-saving gastric sleeve surgery after struggling to control his weight.

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He confessed he became "isolated, very lonely and hit rock bottom" in 2019, and he was rushed to hospital twice while his weight became a problem as it escalated to 27st.

However, in April 2021, the reality star, who until recently was dating Stella Turian, had life-saving gastric sleeve surgery and lost 13st.

In an exclusive interview with The Sun, James said: "This is the first time in my life that I like the way I look too - I don’t feel ugly anymore - I’m content and happy with my appearance.

"The only problem now is I’ve lost a little bit too much weight and I need to put on half a stone."

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