Credit: Dan Winters

Ringo Starr confirms he’s never eaten pizza

Thu 30 January 2025 9:57, UK

Over 60 years since Ringo Starr first established himself in the heart of popular culture, the world is still learning new things about The Beatles drummer. While promoting his latest solo album, Look Up, Starr revealed, among other things, that he has never eaten a pizza despite appearing as a spokesperson for Pizza Hut back in the 1990s.

Inevitably, for somebody who spent a decade of his life in the biggest pop group the world has ever witnessed, countless bizarre rumours have been attached to Ringo Starr over the years.

Therefore, when appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on January 28th in support of the country-influenced solo album Look Up, the talk show host gave Starr the opportunity to set some of those rumours straight once and for all.

That chat soon gave rise to the drummer’s surprising admission about his diet. “I’ve never had a pizza,” Starr revealed, much to the shock of both the crowd and Kimmel himself. “Or a curry,” he then added. While everybody has different preferences when it comes to food, it seems strange that Starr has never eaten two of the most popular dishes across the world during his 84 years on Earth.

Explaining his aversion to these foods, the former Beatle shared, “I’m allergic to several items.” It seems that these allergies, rather than preferences, largely control his diet. “With pizza, you don’t know what you’re putting in it half the time,” he continued. “Or the curry. So I’m strict with myself since it makes me ill immediately.”

Although there is nothing particularly heinous about staying away from foods that have the potential to make you ill, Starr’s admission does add another layer of oddity to his 1995 Pizza Hut commercial campaign. Advertising the pizza chain’s newly-introduced stuffed crust, the 30-second ad sees Starr hinting at a Beatles reunion, only to be joined by members of The Monkees instead.

At the end of the ad, Starr and The Monkees appear to tuck into the stuffed crust pizza (crust first, as the campaign demanded). On closer inspection, however, the drummer cannot be seen eating the pizza at any point during the advertisement, supporting his claim that he has never touched the stuff.