Talk show radio star Ray Hadley has confessed that his wife, former personal assistant of 16 years, Sophie Baird and his family helped him get his life back on track.
With the help of his family, Hadley lost a shocking 18kgs, much to the delight of family and friends.
“The way I was going, I probably wouldn’t have made 70,” he told Men’s Health Australia.
“I’ve been talking about men’s health for a long time on my program – about blokes not getting heart-health checks, not getting skin checks or the prostrate examination. And I’ve done all those things and more for the last 20 years. But despite that, the weight was going to be a significant factor unless I lost a bit of it.”
The weight loss and getting married to his partner gave Hadley a new lease on life.
“If you get to 66 and you don’t mellow, you’re a mug. You can’t be a cranky bastard all your life,” he explained.
“Look, without going into the details – they’re very personal – I was a very unhappy person for a long time. I’m not blaming anyone for my unhappiness, but I was very unhappy. Professionally, I was happy, but personally, I was very unhappy, without knowing I was unhappy or why.”
“I’m in a high-powered job. I’m expected to perform every day, and sometimes you lose sight of your priorities. You’re not doing what you should be doing in relation to yourself or your family.”
Hadley also credits being a grandfather, as well as being around his wife who “calms you down” to his new lifestyle.
“You know, I think I’m a much better grandfather than I was a father,” he says. “Because I was ambitious, I was working seven days a week. And to a certain extent, I carry that a bit. It’s obviously set me up pretty well and I can help them in a whole range of ways, but I wasn’t around much when they were the same age as my grandchildren are now.”
This article originally appeared on Over60.