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NEED TO KNOW
- Kathy Bates revealed she recently hired a personal stylist to “elevate” her look after her 100-lb. weight loss
- The Matlock star also shared that her favorite form of exercise is walking — though she plans to start weight training too
- Bates, 76, spoke to PEOPLE exclusively while at an event at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on May 8
Kathy Bates revealed she’s redoing her wardrobe — and shared her favorite workout — after her 100-lb. weight loss!
Bates spoke to PEOPLE exclusively while attending the 36th Colleagues Spring Luncheon at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Thursday, May 8. During the conversation, the actress revealed she is working with a stylist to “elevate” her look.
“I’ve hired the most wonderful stylist, Deb Afshani,” Bates, 76, says. “I met her on a Vanity Fair shoot, and I hired her to help me just change everything. I just wanted to elevate things a little bit. It’s been lovely to work with her because she’s got such a great eye.”
The Matlock star also revealed that her preferred form of movement these days is relatively simple: walking. “I think it’s the best exercise,” Bates explains. “Well, it’s great for me, and I have a treadmill at home.”
“I’m supposed to do some weight training, because they say that’s really good,” she shares. “I’ve got one of those stretchy things. I don’t know what you call those. I have to figure out how to use that. I have to put it into the DVD and figure out exactly how to use it. Or the Blu-ray … not the Blu-ray. I don’t know what you call it. I just stick it in a drawer and turn it on.”
Robin L Marshall/Getty
Bates has previously opened up about how her weight loss journey — which she said happened gradually over a number of years — has dramatically changed her life and made working easier.
“When I was so heavy in Harry’s Law, I had to sit down in between every take, and it was awful,” she said of her 2011 drama series while exclusively speaking to PEOPLE at the Paleyfest screening of Matlock on March 23. “I’m ashamed to have put myself through that, to be honest.”
“But now that I’ve been able to get really healthy, I can move, I can breathe, I can have fun, I’m not sore,” she added. “I get tired and realize I’m like an old lady, but even the kids get tired. But it’s been a magnificent experience.”
Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
“[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight,” she added.
Bates went on to say that her fitness journey “coincided beautifully” with the timing of Matlock.
“Physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she said. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”
