Big Pop determined to be weight-loss symbol

Dancehall artiste Big Pop has expressed his strong determination to manage his weight and serve as a source of motivation for persons who recognise the need to shed pounds.

Big Pop, who recently won the TVJ-produced weight-loss reality show, Losing It, has been named the official ambassador of Fit Farm Fitness Club.

The entertainer, who weighed 336 pounds at the start of the competition, shed 67 pounds in 10 weeks. He ended the competition at 269 pounds.

"My thing is to keep up this and shed more weight," said Big Pop, who won the competition in 2017 when he dropped 66 pounds.

With the producers of Losing It serving notice that they will be monitoring his progress, Big Pop said he does not want to be out of shape when the cameras are panned in his direction.

"I want to ensure that when they follow up they see that I have been keeping up, and I can be an encouragement to people [so that they realise] that if I can do it they can do it too," he said.

Sharon Schroeter, producer of Losing It, said Big Pop now has a huge responsibility.

"He has been named the official ambassador of the gym, and I think it is important because it holds him responsible. He must focus on taking care of himself," she said.

Having been crowned the biggest loser in the competition's debut season in 2017, Big Pop dropped out of shape in the years that followed. He blamed the weight gain on the lockdown of gyms during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and poor eating habits.

"I gained a lot of weight during [the] Corona [pandemic] because mi stop guh a gym. Gym lock down for nearly one, two years, and nobody never really a come outta dem house, so mi decide say a it this. Mi decide fi nyam everything until Father God ready fi wi, 'cause it looked like a it this. But when we realise say we a guh live, mi jus tek gym fi it," he told THE WEEKEND STAR in a previous interview.

However, having been invited to participate in the 2023 edition of Losing It, Big Pop jumped at the opportunity. The rest is history.

"Big Pop works hard. He is determined," Schroeter said. "Winning again wasn't a surprise to me because I saw how he pushed himself and how he pushed his trainer, Shevon, plus how he used his competitive nature to push him.

"He knew that as a winner six years ago he had to come good. I am proud of him and this shows that it's never too late to start again," Schroeter added.