Zac Efron vows to never get as ripped as he was in 'Baywatch' again

Zac Efron has revealed that he won’t be returning to his ultra-musclebound Baywatch body any time soon.

Appearing on Hot Ones — a show in which celebrities are interviewed while eating spicy chicken wings — Efron said he “never wants” to be in that level of shape again.

The star famously underwent a severe, challenging diet and workout regime to achieve the shredded physique on show in that film, in which he appeared alongside Dwayne Johnson.

He tweeted in 2016 that he had starved himself of carbs and sugars for nine days, as well as eating “only organic grass fed/free range protein and organic leafy greens”.

“That was actually a really important time to do Baywatch,” the 32-year-old said. “I realised, when I was done with that movie, that I don't ever want to be in that good of shape again.”

Efron added: “It was so hard. You're working with almost no wiggle room. You've got things like water under your skin that you're worrying about, making your six-pack into a four-pack, s*** like that.

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“It's just stupid. It's just not real. I'm happy that it worked, I'm happy that it got me through it.

“I may do it again if it was something worthwhile, but we'll wait until it gets to that. Take care of your heart, take care of your brain, you're good.”

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Baywatch was a box office disappointment, earning $178m (£145m) worldwide, and was trashed by film critics — gaining just a 17% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Efron is currently promoting his new adventure series Killing Zac Efron for streaming platform Quibi.

The series sees the Greatest Showman star venture deep into a jungle on a survival adventure.

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Things nearly went very wrong indeed, though, when Efron was hospitalised in December after contracting an infection — believed to potentially be typhoid — while filming in Papua New Guinea.

Efron later reassured fans with a tweet confirming that he “bounced back quick” and was able to finish filming.

Killing Zac Efron is due to be part of Quibi’s launch in the USA on 6 April, with no UK date yet announced.