Hugh CAN this be? Viewers' surprise at star of Downton Abbey's slimline look as Bonneville, 56, reveals his dramatic weight loss and drastically shorter haircut on BBC's The One Show

• Hugh Bonneville is a shadow of well-padded Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey
• The 56-year-old revealed weight loss on Thursday, wearing open-necked shirt 
• Viewers expressed surprise, with one writing he has 'lost a hell of a lot of weight'

Perhaps he’s been following Boris Johnson’s advice to get fit.

Hugh Bonneville is a shadow of the well-padded Earl of Grantham who feasted nightly on Mrs Patmore’s delicious dinners in Downton Abbey. 

The 56-year-old revealed his dramatic weight loss on BBC1’s The One Show on Thursday night, looking smart in a pink open-necked shirt with a drastically shorter haircut. 

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Half the man he used to be: Bonneville on The One Show, right, and how he was: The actor in his more portly days, left

Viewers expressed surprise at the dramatic new look

One Twitter user wrote: ‘Wow, I didn’t recognise Hugh Bonneville on The One Show to start with! What a transformation!’

Another said: ‘Blimey, Hugh Bonneville is half the man he used to be.’ 

And a third wrote: ‘Hugh Bonneville has lost a hell of a lot of weight!’ 

The actor engaged a personal trainer ten years ago after his wife Lulu Williams told him he was ‘fat as a pig’.

But it seems he has boosted his workout regime in lockdown.