Paul Hogan's health is taking a bite out of his appearance and mental state.
The "Crocodile Dundee" icon told "A Current Affair" that he's losing muscle and weight at a rapid pace due to retroperitoneal fibrosis, a disorder that affects the abdominal cavity via inflammation and extensive scar tissue.
"[I've] been better. I had a problem on the aorta in the kidney and the treatment fixed it, but it shrunk me," he told the TV program. "I just… I've lost all my body fat and the muscles all shrank and the strength hasn't come back, because it left me feeble."
Paul, 83, said his 24-year-old son, Chance, has to open jars for him because he can't muster up the strength to twist lids.
"Quite a few of my friends on diets hate me for it because I try and eat everything fatty and lardy you can think of. Everything they're not allowed to have. I can't put on an ounce," Paul said, adding that prescribed steroids are also not working. "They shrink your muscles and [they're] supposed to make you fat, but I got thinner and thinner and thinner. I'm now in the business of trying to put a bit of fat on… because you feel the cold too much when you've got no body fat."
The fact that his health is in decline is far from typical for Paul, as he stayed in shape for decades and "maintained" his fitness until he was 79.
"I was still fit. I'd still take out most 40 year olds," he insisted. "And then I turned 80 and it's lovely that saying that 'turning 80 is not for sissies' because things start to fall apart.'
Considering his health issues, Paul said he wants to sell his Venice Beach, Calif., home and return to his native Australia, but he doesn't want to leave his son.
"I'm not in the place I'm meant to be, but I'm not allowed to complain about anything," he said. "I've had such a gifted life. I've had so many wonderful things happen to me without deserving them so I shouldn't complain but, yeah, ideally I'd rather be back in Sydney because I miss the rest of my family there."