Colt Ford Gave Jelly Roll This Advice About Being a ‘Big Guy’ Who Wants to Get Healthy (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Colt Ford and Jelly Roll.Photo:The Factory Photography By Goldy; Chris Saucedo/WireImage

The Factory Photography By Goldy; Chris Saucedo/WireImage

Colt Fordand palJelly Rollboth hit it big as “big guys.”

But Ford, the country-rap singer-songwriter who co-wroteJason Aldean’s 2011 hit “Dirt Road Anthem,” says when your public image is tied to your size, things can get complicated if you decide to get healthy and slim down.

That’s what Ford — who once weighed 340 lbs. but who’s now down to 190 after a series of health scares — and fellow rapper Jelly Roll, 40, discussed when the two hung out late last year at one of Jelly Roll’s concerts.

“Jelly has lost a bunch of weight,” Ford, 55, says of the rapper’s more than 100-lb. slimdown over the past two years. “You start to think when you’re a big guy like that and people love you, ‘What if I lose weight? Are they going to still like me?’ And I’m like, ‘No, bro. I thought that for so long. No, no, no. As long as you’re who you are, and you’re authentic and good to people, sh–, they don’t care.”

Jelly Roll in 2022 and 2024.Sara Kauss/FilmMagic; Arturo Holmes/Getty

Sara Kauss/FilmMagic; Arturo Holmes/Getty

Ford’s own health journey began in 2022 after he was diagnosed withmyasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease that causes muscle weakness, and then it took on new urgency after he suffered anear-fatal heart attackin April 2024.

Colt Ford in the hospital after a heart attack in April 2024.Courtesy Colt Ford

Courtesy Colt Ford

But since his health crisis, “I haven’t drank a soda,” he says. “I drink water and unsweet tea and I’m fine with that. I haven’t had fried chicken at all. I’m eating a lot healthier. It’s nice to feel good and be able to tell people like Jelly that.”

Ford, whose first single since his heart attack is out this month (“Hell Out of It”), says he wants to spread the word about healthier living.

“I want to advocate all that, get healthier, walk, exercise, just move,” he says. “You’ve got to move your body, whatever it is. If you can’t work out every day, walk down the street, walk up and down the stairs at your house, apartment complex, whatever, just any of that sh–makes a difference. That’s become a new part of my life now.”

source: people.com