When beloved Hallmark star Kristoffer Polaha stars opposite Tamera Mowry-Housley in the upcoming Christmas movie “Mistletoe & Mimosas,” he’ll look like the svelte, handsome Hallmark hunk his fans are used to seeing.
But anyone who’s been watching Polaha on “American Hostage,” the MGM+ series he stars in with Jon Hamm and Giovanni Ribisi, knows the star of over 20 Hallmark movies doesn’t quite look like himself. To step into the role of real-life mortgage banker Dick Hall, who was famously held hostage for 63 hours by an angry client in 1977, Polaha had to gain 25 pounds in just 12 weeks. Here’s how he did it — and how he shed the weight to get back to leading man status.
Kristoffer Polaha Reached the ‘Heaviest’ Weight He’s Ever Been
At first, gaining weight to play “a guy who’d reached a point in his life where he’d given up” was a fun challenge, Polaha told Muscle & Fitness in an October 2026 interview.
“I just kind of ate whatever I wanted, so it really consisted of a diet of burgers and all of the foods that you want to eat,” he said. “I ended up getting up to about 211 pounds. That was the heaviest I’ve ever been, so that was a big, big deal.”
Polaha told the outlet that he typically doesn’t eat breakfast, but he started to have big breakfasts in October 2025 as filming began. He would then spend long days filming hostage scenes, shackled to a chair and barely moving, which made it “scarily easy to pack on the pounds.”
At the end of long filming days in Winnipeg, he sometimes had ice cream for dinner or went to Earl’s Diner, telling Muscle & Fitness, “I was drinking Guinness with my dinner. A hamburger and a Guinness at, like, 11:30 p.m. at night.”
As his weight increased, Polaha noticed he was growing uncomfortable in his own body. He told the outlet, “I was less flexible. Every time I bent down, my stomach got in my way, and I just wasn’t used to it. And it happened quickly. So, suddenly, I was walking around in a different skin. I’ve always been a really lean guy, and so it was a big shift for me.”
At home, Polaha’s wife, Julianne, was “complaining that I was snoring,” he said, noting that the experience was a “good wake-up call” about what could happen if he didn’t stick to his regular diet and regimen once filming was done.
How Kristoffer Polaha Lost the Weight
Once filming wrapped in February, Polaha had to focus on losing the weight for his next roles, including his Hallmark Christmas movie and two “Buried in Barstow” movies for Lifetime. He told Muscle & Fitness that he returned to his routine of fasting in the mornings and started exercising daily again, including running. He said he also loves hot yoga for mental clarity and to flush out toxins.
“I think it’s a lot easier to put on than it is to come off,” he said, “but you do have to give yourself patience.”
Polaha notices he still gets cravings after letting his diet go for a while, so he tries to satisfy his sweet tooth with treats like a handful of Good & Plenty’s. But, he said, “I don’t have a crazy health regimen. I still eat what I want, it’s just a question of how much.”
The season finale of “American Hostage” drops on MGM+ on November 1, and Hallmark’s “Mistletoe & Mimosas” premieres on November 15.
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How Kristoffer Polaha Quickly Gained 25 Pounds For His Latest Role