The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- John Furner
Game-changing medications that help shave off excess weight, including Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro, have taken the world, especially Hollywood, by storm.
Elon Musk has shed around 28 pounds from the ‘wonder weightless drug,’ while NBA legend Charles Barkley revealed he dropped 60 pounds.
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania recently shared that she started Mounjaro as a quick fix before this month’s reunion show.
An obsession with thinness and physical beauty is not new in the entertainment industry, but only a paucity of celebrities have admitted to using the weekly injections.
While several others have been eager to slam widespread enthusiasm for what they argue is essentially an eating disorder in a syringe.
Shahs of Sunset alum Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi: Lost 30 pounds
GG started taking Ozempic in February, revealing it to her fans on Instagram. Here she is holding the injection. In April, she shared a picture of herself after dropping 30 pounds
GG, 41, told her fans in February this year that she had begun taking Ozempic, otherwise known as its generic semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Wegovy.
She had initially opted to take the weekly injectable drug to drop a stubborn 11 pounds. A series of steroid injections that she had to take for her health caused her to pack on some extra weight that she had ‘a very very very hard time getting rid of’.
But semaglutide, combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, causes drastic weight loss. GG started taking the drug on February 5, when she weighed 137 pounds, adding that she had ‘never’ considered more than 121lbs in her life.
Roughly three weeks later, she recorded having lost that 11 pounds. By May, she said she had dropped significantly more weight – almost 30 lbs.
GG told Entertainment Tonight last month: ‘I don’t see a reason to hide being on a weight loss [medication] or a cosmetic procedure, just talk about it because there are so many people out there who want to do the same thing or they want to learn about what you did.
‘Obviously, I didn’t look like this two months ago. So, all of a sudden, to lose almost 30 pounds, I would be a liar to say I quit drinking alcohol and you know all of a sudden started working out like some people like to say.’
When she disclosed her own experience with Ozempic, GG slammed fellow public figures for denying taking the pricey medication.
She said: ‘I’m not sure why so many people deny taking the shots. Y’all can judge in the comments section below. But for those interested in trying this, you should hit up my doctor.’
Tech mogul Elon Musk: Lost 30 pounds
Tech mogul Elon Musk has lost about 30 pounds with the help of weight-loss injectables
The Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, 51, said last year that his secret to achieving a ‘fit, ripped, and healthy’ body is fasting, adding in a subsequent Tweet, ‘And Wegovy.’
Wegovy is nearly the same as Ozempic, but it was explicitly approved to treat overweight and obesity, whereas Ozempic was initially cleared to help treat type 2 diabetes.
Before Wegovy’s approval, doctors around the US were doling out prescriptions for Ozempic ‘off label’ at about a thousand dollars a pop.
Mr Musk has not said consistently whether the medication he took was branded Wegovy or Ozempic, but both medications can cause major weight loss and a reduction of body fat.
He said in October that he had lost nearly 30lbs with the medication’s help, in combination with fasting and ‘no tasty food’.
NBA star Charles Barkley: Lost 60 pounds
Basketball legend Charles Barkley has dropped over 60lbs on Mounjaro, a Wegovy competitor
Mr Barkley, 60, an NBA legend and Hall of Famer, said he lost over 60 pounds in six months after taking semaglutide competitor tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro.
The drug works by binding to receptors for two appetite-regulating hormones — GLP-1 and GIP — sending signals to the brain that the body is full.
It also slows down the stomach’s ability to clear food, partly by reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach, helping people feel fuller for longer.
It differs from semaglutide, though it has similar effects.
While tirzepatide mimics the effects of two hormones, semaglutide only copies one – GLP-1.
Mr Barkley first disclosed in May that he was taking the injectable along with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise regimen.
Mounjaro helped him shave off 62 pounds, having shrunk from 352 to 290lbs.
Mr Barkley said on the Pat McAfee show that the medication has reinvigorated him: ‘I’m starting to feel like a human being, not a fat ass anymore.
‘My doctor told me, she says, there’s a lot of fat young people. Ain’t a lot of fat old people, they’re all dead.’
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania: Lost 20 pounds
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania said she started taking an injectable weight loss medication ahead of her reality show’s reunion episode with fellow cast members
The reality star told Bravo superstar Andy Cohen earlier this month that she had begun taking Mounjaro ahead of the show’s reunion with Mr Cohen.
Ms Catania, 52, told Andy Cohen: ‘I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon.’
She added that ‘not one’ of her co-stars is not also taking a weight-loss drug.
After the Watch What Happens Live episode in which Ms Catania revealed to Cohen that she was a devoted Mounjaro user, Mr Cohen received a torrent of backlash for praising the Housewives for their noticeable weight loss.
In answer to the criticism, Mr Cohen said simply that it’s his job to prod the women for the truth: ‘I’m trying to deliver the goods for my audience watching… I mean, if Dolores shows up looking 15 pounds lighter, I gotta find out how it happened.’
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs: Lost 20 pounds
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs has dropped over 20lbs but did not specify which medication she was taking
Another Real Housewives of New Jersey star, Margaret Josephs, has also admitted to using an unspecified weight loss drug to help her drop 22 pounds over the past year.
Josephs, 56, admitted unapologetically in March that she was undergoing weekly GLP-1 agonist shots, the same class of drugs as Ozempic and Wegovy.
But she did not specify which of those medications she was taking.
Ms Josephs told Insider in April: ‘I take them as a shot once a week, and that helps you lose weight and improves your metabolism.
‘Everyone is like, ‘Marge, you look great,’ although some of my costars think some of my weight loss is not a great idea. But I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s whatever works for me.’
Josephs, who admitted to losing 22 pounds since starting the treatment, also said that she had never been more healthy in her life.
‘I went to my regular doctor, they were like, ‘This is the best your blood work has ever looked!’ I got the top rate on my life insurance. It’s really been incredible.’
Model Remi Bader
Model and TikTok star Remi Bader is pictured at the 2023 Oscars in Los Angeles, California
Plus-size model and TikTok star Remi Bader, 27, also revealed that she used Ozempic, having been prescribed the drug when her doctor found that she was pre-diabetic, meaning her blood sugar levels were higher than normal, though not so high as to qualify for type 2 diabetes.
Ms Bader said she had dropped some weight while taking the drug but later regained all of it.
She added that when she stopped taking the drug, she regained her lost weight and then some.
There is concern among medical experts as well as users that stopping the drug will lead to the pounds coming right back.
