NEWS REPORT
As world-famous and beloved presenter Oprah Winfrey praises weight-loss drug Ozempic, Closer looks at the dangers of the drug that’s taken over the A-list…
She’s wowed fans in recent months with her slimmed-down physique, but Oprah Winfrey sparked controversy when she admitted using a weight-loss drug.
The chat show queen once said that taking drugs to aid weight loss would be “the easy way out”. But in December, she revealed in an interview that she’s joined the Hollywood craze of using Ozempic, saying she takes it “as a tool to manage not yo-yoing”.
She added, “The fact that there’s a medically-approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind. I’m absolutely done with the shaming from other people and particularly myself.”
BACKLASH
Oprah –who claimed she once weighed 17st –also revealed she took the medication before Thanksgiving. “I knew I was going to have two solid weeks of eating,” she said, “Instead of gaining 8lbs like I did last year, I gained half a pound.”
But her revelation sparked a social media backlash. One critic said, “She said she never would and she ended up doing it”, while another wrote, “Done with the shaming but OK with lying?”
Oprah, 69, isn’t the first to speak out about Ozempic. Sharon Osbourne revealed last year that she’d lost 3st using Ozempic, choosing to take the drug as “everybody was using it”.
But after dropping to 7st and feeling nauseous constantly, she warned people against using it as she feels she’s lost too much weight and is struggling to put it back on.
SIDE EFFECTS
Sharon, 71 – who at her heaviest was 16st and now fluctuates between 7st and 7st 2lbs – said, “That’s why you’ve got to keep this stuff away from younger people, because they’ll go berserk on it, and it’s not right.”
Her daughter Kelly, 39 –who claims she no longer uses the drug – admitted, “You have a weight problem and you’ve tried everything, and then somebody says take this injection and you’re going to be skinny.”
Ozempic has surged in popularity in the last year, with a number of stars admitting to using the weight-loss drug. The injection – first developed to help those with type 2 diabetes – is made up of Semaglutide, which increases insulin levels in your body and decreases your blood sugar (glucose), slowing down your digestion, helping to banish hunger pangs while lowering blood sugar levels and therefore aiding in weight loss.
While Ozempic is licensed in the UK for
