Greg In Hollywood chats with Bryan T. Donovan about tonight’s season finale of Bravo’s “Thintervention”

Bryan T. Donovan is an actor and independent film producer from Los Angeles who will reveal tonight how much weight he lost after participating in the Bravo series Thintervention with Jackie Warner.

I was excited to talk to Bryan a few days ago because I’m a big fan of his hilarious short film Steeling Magnolias. It screened at Outfest a few summers ago and as someone who knows every single line of dialogue from Steel Magnolias, I totally appreciate what he put together.

Okay, let’s get back to the workout show. It’s a docu-series inspired by renowned fitness expert Jackie Warner’s mission to change lives through healthy habits.

Bryan, a 37-year-old actor and producer who lives in Los Angeles with his partner of seven years, Miguel, talked with me about a journey that he said “changed my life.”

“I’ve never had the washboard abs, being a gay man in this town it can be kind of difficult if you are two pounds overweight,” he confessed. “I was in good shape when I first met my partner. As years go on, you pack on a little weight and get comfortable and pack on more and think, ‘How the hell did I get so fat?’ Depression sets in and it’s a vicious cycle. Part of my problem was that I used to hide food. I had to shop for extra-large T-shirts at Target.”

But why agree to go on a TV show to shed the pounds?

“It’s so much harder to lose weight on your own,” he said. “I was incredibly fortunate to become a part of this. I knew with cameras on you 24-7, there was no way I wanted to seem like a failure. I busted my hump and followed her plan to a T. With cameras on you, that’s major incentive to not fail.”

He found out about the show when somebody posted on Facebook that contestants were needed.

“I jokingly responded that I wanted to lose 40-50 pounds and it spiraled out of control,” he said. “There are a lot of hoops you have to jump through both medically and psychologically.”

When he found out he had been selected for the show, he was on a movie set in Louisiana where all the food was fried. He decided to indulge since he would soon be beginning a weight loss regiment: “I was just eating anything and everything.”

So when he began the program, there was even more to lose. Contestants not only worked out at Warner’s gym, they also had to be prepared for “ambush” visits from her. During one visit, the trainer found out he had cheated by eating some Oreo cookies and she made him run up and down the stairs in his home until he burned off the calories.

But he has nothing but praise for Warner: “I didn’t watch [Warner's previous series] Workout but knew who she was. The rumor mill was that she was super tough and would be a nightmare. It was the exact opposite, I found her to be a pussycat. She pushed us but it was for our own good. I’m a huge fan of Jackie.”

The first seven weeks of the program are done under Warner’s supervision then contestants are on their own for the next six weeks. Tonight reveals how they fared.

“Losing weight is not some great mystery. It’s working out and eating healthy. The hard part is the psychological part, finding out what our demons are. Therapy was a really important key to the success of everybody to figure out what makes us eat and what pushes out triggers.”

Bryan’s triggers got a big test recently when his dog was hit by a car and killed.

“When people suffer trauma or grief, it’s easy to lay on the couch and eat bags of junk food and cry and eat more bags of junk food,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful to this program. Had I not had those tools, I would hve been on the couch. I fought hard against that. It’s really re-trained my brain to really think about what I put in my mouth.”

Tomorrow: I’ll post how much weight Bryan lost!!! I’ll also be posting his short film Steeling Magnolias.