He lost that tonne of weight 'cause he noticed that his health was being seriously-impacted after a few years.
He was a slim, competent violin player originally IIRC. He deliberately put the weight on as a part of the "parody" character he invented, ran with the "likes" 'til he felt it was time to end the endeavour and subsequently did so.
Just sayin' 'cause most peeps might not realise this.