Fattest man: Food has absolutely devastated my life

At his fattest, Paul Mason would consume up to 20,000 calories every day.

He would eat 40 chocolate bars as well as a huge fried breakfast, takeaways for lunch, dinner and snacks.

"The way I look at my body - I hate it," he says.

"You see yourself in the mirror, you think 'Oh my God'."

A documentary, which was aired on Channel 4 on Wednesday night (5 January), follows his life as he gets ready for life saving surgery to make his stomach smaller.

Estimated to be around 70 stone, he was bed bound for the best part of a decade, and it cost social services £2,000 a week to look after him.

Addiction

Shaw Somers is the surgeon who carried out a stomach stapling operation to curb Paul's appetite and save his life.

He says: "Paul was almost constantly eating."

Paul Mason: "You see yourself in the mirror, you think 'Oh my God'."

He calls Paul's condition "an addiction" triggered by "hunger and a need for comfort".

"He was getting takeaways and carrying on eating throughout the day, largely because he felt helpless and it was his only comfort."

Post-surgery, 49-year-old Paul is on a strict diet and he's lost more than 20 stone.

He says: "Food has absolutely devastated my life. It's taken my mobility away, it's taken my independence away."

"I hate myself. Hate myself for what I've done to myself, and I hate myself for not controlling it."