British comedian Lenny Henry unrecognisable after drastic weight loss

British comedian Lenny Henry has dropped 20kg and is almost unrecognisable. Photo / Getty Images

British comedian Lenny Henry has stepped out looking markedly different following a staggering 20kg weight loss.

The veteran comic — and ex-husband to fellow newly slimline star Dawn French — was photographed cutting a trim figure while attending a show at London's Playhouse Theatre this week.

Side-by-side photographs reveal the extent of the beloved comedian's weight loss:

Lenny Henry before and after his weightloss. Photo / Getty Images

Henry, 59, initially started losing weight in the wake of his divorce from wife of 26 years, fellow comedian Dawn French. She too underwent a body transformation after their split:

A 2009 photo of Lenny Henry and Dawn French. Photo / Getty Images

"I'm a bit diabetic, so I was put on a very strict diet," he told the Daily Mirror of his initial weight loss back in 2014.

"I was big. It's lots of greens, lots of juice and lots of walking. Swimming is good. You've got to eat no sugar and drink hardly any alcohol … all the stuff you like," he added.

Diabetes had previously cost his mother both of her legs.

Henry's ex French has previously opened up about what spurred on her weight loss, revealing she initially shed kilos so she could more easily undergo a hysterectomy.

Dawn French shed almost 50kg for the 'practical' reason that it would enable her to have her hysterectomy via keyhole surgery. Photo / Getty Images

She told the audience on her 30 Million Minutes tour: "When I was due to have my hysterectomy the doc told me that if I could lose some weight before the op, they would be able to do it via keyhole, and I would recover in three weeks or so.

"Otherwise it would be big open surgery, and three months to recover. So, I set about dropping a few stone.

"No magic wand, just tiny, joyless lo-cal eating and lots more walking for weeks and weeks. It was grim. I lost seven-and-a-half stone (48kg). I could have the keyhole surgery. Great. That's all it was, practical."