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One of the breakout stars from Bravo’s Love Hotel was Earl “The Pearl” Thompson, who dated Real Housewives of Orange County star Shannon Beador.
Earl recently spoke with Realty Blurb to confess he was “shocked” when he saw how he appeared on TV weight-wise and decided to take matters into his own hands.
“I know they say you look heavier on television, but when I saw myself on there, I was shocked,” Earl stated, “I had gained about 40 pounds after a home physical therapist cranked on my knee a few days after a knee replacement surgery (about 9 months before being selected for Love Hotel and heading to Cabo). I learned four months later that the physical therapist had dislodged the lower implant from my bone, which caused my knee capsule to fill with blood and for thick scar tissue to begin forming. The orthopedic surgeon said the scar tissue needed to mature before he could peel it off, which would be like peeling an orange.”
“This scar tissue removal surgery occurred 6 months after that day with the physical therapist,” he continued, “whom I kicked out of my house. I had 0 pain and a great range of motion before he walked into my house, and had 8/10 pain and no range of motion every day until my orthopedic surgeon peeled off the scar tissue. That was when I could get off the couch and slowly start burning calories. Two months later, I arrived in Cabo for Love Hotel. So, I had lost some of the weight before the show, but I was not where I wanted to be.”
Earl confessed that he was “embarrassed” seeing how overweight he was on the show, which “motivated” him to lose weight.
So how did he do it?
While he began rehabbing his knee and walking, Earl eventually decided to give GLP-1 medications a try.
“I heard about Ozempic prior to the show, but when I came back from the show, I learned how expensive that was,” he said. “I learned that the generic, Semaglutide, was a lot more reasonable. I started taking it and plateaued…. then I would come off it, and then go back on it again with the same results. Then I heard about tirzepatide, and started taking it for about 3 months, and my weight got down to 209 before the premiere red carpet event for Love Hotel.”
Earl did experience the side effect of nausea, but noted it “lasted less than a day.
While he kept going on and off of Tirzeptitide, a friend eventually told him about Retatrutide, a triple antagonist, which he tried and experienced a significant health scare from.
“I took Retatrutide (triple agonist) for 1 month,” Earl explained. “During that month, it completely killed my appetite, and when I did eat, I ate very little. I was getting pretty nauseous for 3 to 4 days after the injection, which required nausea medicine. Within 3 weeks, I had gotten down to 207. I went in for a weigh-in and asked to talk to the nurse practitioner to get medication for my nausea. She looked at my results and had a shocked look on her face. She said I had lost too much weight too fast, I had lost over 10 pounds of muscle, and I was malnourished.”
He continued, “I jokingly told her I had a lot of muscle to give, but she continued to look very concerned. I told her I was just not hungry, and when I ate, I got full very fast. She said I needed to eat at least over 2,000 calories per day, get 150 to 200 grams of protein daily, and get in the gym. Honestly, the word malnourished freaked me out. ”
Earl noted he was also getting headaches and feeling lightheaded and off-balance.
While Earl noted he’s not concerned that what he tried isn’t FDA approved, he did warn that people should be wary of scary potential side effects like losing muscle and their organs shutting down.
Since losing so much weight, going from a 40″ waist to a 34,” Earl noted he can wear clothing “tighter” and feels “more confident.”
While he appeared on Love Hotel, he divulged he’s “still waiting for the right person to come into his life.”
Earl also shared he’s open to returning to reality TV.
“I’m still fun to be around, people gravitate to me because of my authenticity, you never know what will come out of my mouth,” he shared. “I have fun with whatever I do, and I generally make friends with almost everyone I meet.
” In addition, with all the new things I’m doing that I mentioned previously, I’m still running my forensic vocational rehab firm and testifying in front of judges and juries on injury/disability cases. So, I’m living a truly blessed life, but I look forward to all the new opportunities in the future and all the wonderful new people that will come into my life. Hopefully, one will be my future rocking chair partner.”