‘The View’ Star Says 160-Lb. Weight Loss Saved Her Life

Walt Disney Television Photo Arc / ABC Star Jones says losing more than 160 pounds over two decades ago didn’t just change her body—it allowed her to have the life she has now.

The attorney and former View co-host, 64, reflected on the lasting impact of her 2003 gastric bypass surgery during a guest appearance on the daytime talk show this week, saying she believes she would be dead without it.

“I was 307 pounds at my heaviest sitting at this table,” Jones said.

“I saved my own life.” Jones said the surgery ultimately made it possible for her to survive the major heart operation she needed seven years later.

“I would not have been able to have open heart surgery,” she said.

“They wouldn’t have put me on the table to crack my chest and take my heart out of my body at 300 pounds.

I would be dead.” She added that the life she has now—including her husband and son—might never have happened without the decision she made at 41.

“I would not have a husband that I love.

I would not have a son.

I would not have had any part of the life,” she said.

Jones has spoken openly in recent years about the weight-loss surgery she once kept private.

In a 2012 interview with Today , she admitted that she initially stayed quiet because she feared she would fail.

“I’m not sure I thought I would be successful at it, to be honest with you,” she told Matt Lauer.

“I thought I’d gain the weight back.” As the pounds came off, speculation grew over how Jones was losing weight so quickly.