Aretha Franklin Lost 85 Pounds! (VIDEO)

in an exclusive interview, Aretha Franklin said she has lost 85 pounds in an effort to diet and get healthier, while denying she has had gastric bypass surgery or other medical procedures for weight loss, and also saying it's not true she has had surgery for a major serous illness.

Aretha said "I've been looking at a lot of pictures, and I was saying [to myself], 'You were entirely too fat for words. I was doing everything you could to lose that weight, and it's hard. It's just really hard. [But] you can't continue eating things that will hurt you eventually."

Aretha Franklin Lost 85 Pounds
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Aretha Franklin says she's lost 85 pounds as part of an ongoing effort to drop weight. Legendary how YOU doing gossip queen Wendy Williams interviewed the 18-time Grammy winner on Friday at a Detroit-area hotel. The 68-year-old Franklin underwent surgery for an undisclosed ailment in December and didn't go into detail about it during the interview with Williams. The "Queen of Soul" did say a recurring pain in her side last year was her "first inkling that something was not what it should be."

Aretha Franklin Lost 85 Pounds