Casey King has spoken out about reaching 40 after once fearing he would not survive that milestone.
The former TLC star, who weighed 845 pounds during his 2018 run on “Family By the Ton,” shared a reflective birthday post on Instagram in November 2024 that detailed his transformation after losing more than 600 pounds. King, who turned 40 last year, had bariatric surgery in 2019 as the first major step in what became a years-long physical overhaul.
King’s post pulled no punches about where he once stood. “As I enter my 40th year of life I have to think back and reflect on the year before,” he wrote on Instagram. “I feel like most people that knew me 6 to 10 years ago wouldn’t have thought I’d make it to 40 and to those people I say ‘GOTCHO ASSSSSSSS.'”
The Georgia native kept the same blunt tone as he continued. “I really don’t know how I made it this far, I really thought at one time I’d be dead before 40 and now at 40 I’m in close to the best health of my life….. Kinda #weird tbh.”
King’s candor about his past has been a hallmark of his public updates. In the 2023 TLC follow-up series “Brand New Me,” he described a life of near-total isolation before his surgery. “My lifestyle at my heaviest was kind of non-existent,” he explained in the show. “I didn’t really like people. I didn’t like being seen. I didn’t like socialising.”
The physical limitations were severe enough that basic hygiene required improvised solutions. “I felt like a freak show,” King said in the same series. “I didn’t shower inside. I showered in a trough tub outside for a while.”
His father, who appeared alongside him in the TLC programming, offered his own assessment of the turnaround. “I never in my wildest dreams would have thought he would have got down to what he is now,” he said. “It’s been one hell of a journey and I tell you what, I’m so proud of him.”
King’s 2019 bariatric procedure initially dropped him 70 pounds, but the overall loss eventually cleared 600 pounds — a figure that has drawn renewed attention as he has continued posting progress imagery and updates to social media. The November birthday post served as both milestone marker and thank-you note to those who had followed along.
“I just wanna thank everyone that’s followed me along the way, I wanna say #thankyou to everyone for the constant #love and #support and just embracing my weirdness and allowing me to be #me,” King wrote on Instagram.
He closed the lengthy caption with a direct address to his audience that mixed gratitude with his characteristic offbeat delivery. “Basically thank you, I love you, 40 is gonna be good to me, I look forward to things to come. Take care of yourselves and each other, tell someone you love them, and I’ll see you when I see you.”
The response in his comments section was immediate and enthusiastic. “Congratulations, I can’t imagine how difficult this must’ve been! I hope you know how amazing you’ve done and I’m sure you feel a lot more comfortable!” one follower wrote. Another added: “Great job staying the course.” A third offered: “Great Job Casey welcome to the 40 & Fine! Continued blessings on your journey.”
In the viral moment that first brought King to national attention, the then-30-something Georgia man appeared on “Family By the Ton,” a TLC series that tracked relatives each weighing over 300 pounds as they pursued weight loss interventions together. At 845 pounds, King was among the heaviest cast members in the show’s run, and his segments detailed not only his size but the social withdrawal and practical hardships — including that outdoor trough bathing setup — that had come to define his daily existence. The series aired in 2018 and set the stage for his subsequent surgical decision and documented transformation.
King has not announced any new television appearances, though his social media activity suggests he will continue sharing updates from his maintained regimen.