‘Hairspray Live!’ star Maddie Baillio reveals 150-pound weight loss
Maddie Baillio dropped 150 pounds – or “more than half” of what she once weighed – since she began her health journey in early 2020.
The “Hairspray Live!” actress, 26, told People that she knew she needed to make a change after she had trouble keeping up with her co-stars while filming “Cinderella” with Camila Cabello.
“There was a scene that didn’t make it in the movie, where me and the other stepsister [Charlotte Spencer] led a group of like 300 girls — fantastic dancers, slender, they had it going on — down this 50-yard pathway to the castle singing ‘Single Ladies’ and dancing,” she told the outlet.
“I couldn’t keep up with the choreography. I kept losing my breath. We’d have to start reshooting the scene over and over for me.”
The “Dumplin'” actress explained that the timing aligned with the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so she began walking in her free time. 30 minutes a day turned into an hour, turned into two hours a day, and “that’s how it began for me.”
“I stepped on the scale, and that was inspiring to see that I had control over something — that I had control over my body,” Baillio said, adding that she also became vegan and tried more extensive workouts like hot yoga.
Baillo explained that while her diminishing weight was nice, she was more focused on being able to “keep up” and gain “that physical stamina.”
“I’m inspired by the changing mentality,” Baillio continued. “I wanna play my dream roles on Broadway that have nothing to do with my weight. And I definitely see it going that direction.”
However, Baillio still remains body positive in her outlook on physical appearance.
“It is a compliment when people tell me that I look good, but I refrain from commenting on people’s physical appearance because I know that when I was struggling — when I was so hyper fixated on the number on the scale, and people were telling me that I was doing good and [to] keep going — that wasn’t good for me,” she shared.
Baillio has also been dating her boyfriend Solomon Reynolds, whom she “had a big crush on” since they went to high school together 10 years ago.
“I was a plus-size girl in high school as well, and he was like one of the few boys who was just so kind to me,” she gushed, adding he’s “the most talented person I’ve ever met.”
