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A notorious money lender once dubbed Australia's toughest gangster has adopted an extreme diet that's transformed his appearance as he desperately tries to become a professional dirt bike rider.

Former millionaire Tim 'Sharky' Ward, fled from the to the streets of in 2009 after becoming a target with the Australian police.

The heavily tattooed Kiwi expatriate quickly forged a reputation in the Asian nation as the 'Shark of Pattaya', known for his intimidating bodybuilder physique and tough stance towards indebted borrowers.

But after stepping out of the spotlight four years ago, the former nightclub owner quietly returned to the Gold Coast during the Covid pandemic - where he has undergone a drastic physical overhaul.

Ward has since broken his silence over his new look, saying he shed more than 20kg thanks to a radical change to his diet.

'I got into intermittent fasting because it's good for slot gacor gampang menang you,' he told the

'I'm carrying too much weight to do it properly. You can't be 120kg and go out into the bush on a bike - you ride about a kilometre, and then you gas out.'

Ward said he won't return to living the fast life despite moving back to the Gold Coast, where he once owned nightclubs. 

 'I'll never be part of that again,' he said. 

'It was a part of my life, but it's gone now - I just want to chill out, ride my dirt bikes and relax.'

He also maintained he's never taken any drugs and has removed people from his life who were users, before revealing his plan to eventually return to Thailand when the country lifts its Covid vaccine mandate.

'It doesn't really matter what I do for work does it?' he said. 

'I'm in the bush - I just want to ride my bikes and chill.' 

Footage posted on TikTok by a fan shows the once burly luxury car fanatic - who built a cult following in the body building community - has lost much of his muscle mass and grown out his formerly close-shaved head and facial hair. 

'Sharky lost his size,' the follower lamented, alongside a crying emoji.  

Ward frequently shares photos of his motorbike rides with his more than 66,000 Facebook followers. Other images show sunsets and sunrises over the picturesque water canals throughout the city.  

'I been flat broke and I been a multi-millionaire. The happy place is definitely somewhere in between,' his Facebook bio reads. 

Despite dropping the kilos, the fitness enthusiast still appears to be hitting the gym, posting pictures of his post-work out physique online and last month giving fans tips on how to save big on protein bars by buying in bulk when they're on sale. 

Ward's colourful life began on the streets of New Zealand where he grew up without parents.

'You have to make it when no-one is going to give it to you. No mummy and daddy to run to so you gotta do what you gotta do. I was given up for adoption at birth,' Ward told the blog Stickman Bangkok in 2017.

'I was picked on when I was a kid. A boy brought me home with him and his parents pulled him inside and slammed the door. I was that kid.'

He began an obsession with earning quick money by playing pool for cash and first stepped into a gym at age 16.

Ward left his hometown of Waitara, Taranaki on New Zealand's North Island in 1990 to pursue his dreams on the Gold Coast.

He was a well-known nightclub owner and millionaire personal lender who, at his peak, owned three Lamborghini cars in three different colours - a luxurious life he earned by charging up to 200 per cent interest on his loans.

Ward was banned from loaning funds in Queensland in the mid 2000s, and was made to pay $270,000 in fines and $100,000 in court costs after he was prosecuted by the Department of Fair Trading. 

After finding himself in trouble with Australian police in 2009, Ward moved to Thailand where he could finally be 'free'.

There, he lived a thrill-seeking lifestyle, previously admitting to sleeping with Thai sex workers and buying his way out of trouble.

'I don't have to wear a shirt. I don't have to abide by the rules and if I do break the rules I just pay,' Ward said previously. 

'It is one of the only places in the world where I really do feel free. I f*** up all the time but I pay. It beats going to jail. In Australia I would be in jail.' 

He also spent four hours every night handing out meat to dozens of stray dogs and cats on the streets of 'sin city'.

His benevolence - which extended to defending the animals when drunk tourists took aim at the defenceless creatures and looking out for abandoned kids roaming the dangerous streets - earned him a legion of fans online.