Chelsea Clinton's Snooty Demand For Dad Bill Before Her Lavish Wedding

Former President Bill Clinton sounded like a typical father when discussing his daughter Chelsea's wedding to Marc Mezvinsky. "I'm just supposed to walk her down the aisle and pay the bills," he explained about his role in the wedding when speaking to HuffPost in April 2010. However, his only child tasked him with one extra snooty demand before her big day: slimming down. "You know, she told me the other day, she said, 'Dad the only thing you gotta do is walk me down the aisle and you need to look good,'" Bill said in comments at a fiscal summit in May 2010 (via New York Post). She then clarified that she wanted him to lose about 15 pounds.

Although Bill could've easily been annoyed by Chelsea's brief transformation into a bridezilla, he honored her request. Not only had he already dropped about half of the intended weight by the time he'd commented, he went on to lose a few extra pounds. According to comments he made to CBS News, he was 20 pounds lighter (and three million dollars poorer) when Chelsea tied the knot with Mezvinsky during their wedding at the Astor Courts estate in Rhinebeck, N.Y. on July 31.

Chelsea Clinton's wedding wasn't Bill Clinton's only motivator for making his health a priority. As the outlet noted, Bill, who has a history of tragic health issues, had actually had a stent put into his heart a few months before her wedding, in 2010. The procedure was meant to treat a collapsed vein — a complication from quadruple bypass surgery he'd had back in 2004.

"I just decided that I was the high-risk person, and I didn't want to fool with this anymore. And I wanted to live to be a grandfather," he explained to AARP. The former prez made a radical diet change, turning to veganism, which he "thought would maximize my chances of long-term survival." Bill has already surpassed the average life expectancy for U.S. males (76.5 years), per the CDC. 

Unfortunately, Bill has had a couple of more health setbacks since the start of his vegan journey. In October 2021, for example, Bill was hospitalized for a serious urinary tract infection that required intravenous antibiotics, per WRAL. Just over three years later, he was admitted into the hospital again for a high fever, per NBC News. He recovered from both incidents.