Many people recognize Carson Daly as the host of The Voice, Last Call with Carson Daly, Today, or for some old-school fans, Total Request Live on MTV. But the famous TV presenter has been in the media for different reasons recently. He has tackled another role, and that is mental health advocate. It all began with Carson Daly’s weight gain rumors.
There were stories about his weight gain, and the famous host decided to open up about everything happening in his life. How much do you know about it?
What is the truth behind Carson’s weight gain? Let’s find out. In 2019, Carson opened up about his struggles with generalized anxiety disorder and how it affected his weight. We have a deep insight into the story, so read on.
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Get To Know Carson
Born in June 1973, Carson Jones Daly is an American television host, radio personality, producer, and television personality. Fun fact: he has even worked as a radio DJ. He has been involved in several prominent roles at NBC, including hosting the reality music competition The Voice. He also joined the morning show Today on NBC.
Born in Santa Monica, California, he is the son of Coachella Valley TV personality, Pattie Daly Caruso, and car salesman Jim Daly. His father passed away when Carson was just a child, due to bladder cancer. His mother then married Richard Caruso.
As a young child, Carson attended Santa Monica High School. He was a member of the golf team before his graduation in 1991. From there, he continued his education at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Fun fact: Carson dropped out of university to pursue a professional golf career.
He began his broadcasting career at the radio station KOME in San Jose, California. But his career in radio began before that. Fun fact: Carson was an intern for Jimmy Kimmel on the radio.
Speaking of his early broadcasting career, he was given a slot at KROQ, a sister station of KOME in Los Angeles. During that time, MTV recruited him to serve as a VJ during MTV’s summer beach house programming called Motel California.
In the summer of 1997, MTV hired Daly as a permanent VJ, and he had to relocate to New York. There, he began hosting MTV Live. Daly hosted MTV’s TRL from 1998 to 2003.
In 2002, one of his most famous shows debuted. Last Call with Carson Daly was shot on the same set as Saturday Night Live until 2005 when the show moved to Los Angeles.
In 2011, Carson got his most famous job position to date. He began hosting and worked as an executive producer on NBC’s reality music competition, The Voice. His duties included watching blind auditions alongside the contestant’s family members. As a producer on the show, Carson has won four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program.
Fun fact: he also had a small role on Dave Chappelle’s show.
Carson is a Catholic. He has openly spoken about his struggle with generalized anxiety disorder and panic disorder.
Regarding his personal life, he is married to Siri Pinter, a food blogger and daughter of American actor Mark Pinter. They have four children together.
Why Did He Gain Weight?
Carson’s physique was tested while hosting The Voice. Fans of the program began calling his weight out and wanted to know the reason behind Carson Daly’s weight gain.
The famous host took a while, but he eventually decided to react to the ongoing controversy. His increased weight was noticeable on The Voice. People had all kinds of conspiracy theories.
But there was no such thing. The reason for his weight gain was illness. Carson has been dealing with an anxiety disorder for quite some time. And he has been very vocal and open about his mental health. According to the popular host, being open about his mental state has put him in a better place.
While many fans see him as the happy and smiling guy on The Voice, Carson deals with problems. He has to put on his best face forward for the camera and the audience. But that is not always the case in his real life. He had put on a little weight recently, and people speculated about the reason.
According to his tweets, he has been consulting with a doctor and taking medications for his condition. And the sudden increase in weight was a side effect of the anti-anxiety drugs he had been consuming. At least that is what he believed to be the case.
But it turns out, the medications had a different effect. They calmed him down to the point he was not feeling any anxiety. The calmer and happier he was, his appetite increased. And that is how he gained some weight.
A Mental Health Advocate
In 2019, Carson opened up about his struggle with generalized anxiety disorder and how it affected his life.
He wrote on Twitter, saying, “Fun fact: I assumed recent weight gain was a side effect from an anti-anxiety drug I started. Turns out it’s just working. The calmer/happier me is in a better mood & appetite increases”.
The honest admission addressed two rarely discussed topics. People with and without anxiety could easily relate to his tweet. And it was not the first time Carson used his public platform to reduce the stigmatization of mental illness.
In 2018, he also spoke with Today magazine in a special segment. He talked about how he dealt with anxiety his whole life. The first panic attack came when he worked at MTV. After talking to a friend, he decided to seek help and found a cognitive behavioral therapist.
When Carson gained some weight, he asked his doctor whether the prescription was behind it. And she told him there is really no weight side effect.
Carson explained, “What happens is you end up celebrating life, which means you eat and drink like a king. I am tackling one of these things at a time. I am no longer going to be scared about any of it, and I am going to put my best foot forward”.
Living In The Moment
In 2017, Carson experienced the deaths of his mom and stepfather. As we said before, he lost his biological father as a young child. So, for his whole life, he knew more about his stepfather Richard Caruso.
In 2018, he lost his parents, and that inspired him to change his outlook.
Speaking to Today co-host Hoda Kotb, he said, “I think bigger than just the weight, the food. All that stuff is every day, we all struggle with that, we all do the best we can. Now I wake up and I’m like, thank you God, I got a new day, a fresh day. How can I be the best husband, the best father, the best coworker, the best fellow citizen? I’ve got today. I’ve got right now, in this moment”.
Now that is a quote we can all relate to, right? We should focus on enjoying every new day, every fresh day.
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