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The huge stars who’ve shrunk due to Ozempic

Ozempic, the miracle weight loss injection, has taken the world by storm, enabling its users to suppress their appetites and speedily shed the pounds.

Little wonder then that any time a celebrity appears looking suddenly — and drastically — thinner, they are instantly assumed to have used Ozempic.

Melissa McCarthy in 2014
The Bridesmaids star this year.

Melissa McCarthy in 2014 and, right, the Bridesmaids star this year

When Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy uploaded a photograph to her Instagram page looking the slimmest she has been in years, many of her 13 million followers must have wondered whether Ozempic (also manufactured under the brand name Wegovy) was responsible.

But it was only superstar singer Barbra Streisand, 82, who came out and asked her. ‘Did you take Ozempic?’ she wrote in reply to the picture. She was instantly rounded on by McCarthy’s followers who accused her of being rude and insensitive.

McCarthy, 53, has spoken about her struggles with weight, revealing that big-name designers have refused to dress her for red carpet events.

When it came to Streisand’s Ozempic query, the actress said she was flattered to even be noticed by the superstar… but deleted the picture and swerved the question.

So while some, like Melissa McCarthy, keep us guessing, which Hollywood celebrities do admit to using the weight loss jabs…    

Rebel Wilson

Rebel Wilson in 2018
The Australian actress in 2022

Australian actress Rebel Wilson – pictured in 2018, left, and 2022 – shed 80lb in four years to reach her goal weight of 165lb (11st 8lb)

The Australian actress shed 80lb in four years to reach her goal weight of 165lb (11st 8lb). She shed most of the excess in 2020, calling it her ‘year of health’, and putting it down to healthy eating and exercise.

However while promoting her memoir, Rebel Rising, she admitted to using Ozempic. The Pitch Perfect star, 44, says she used the drug briefly after she had lost weight, to help maintain her new shape.

She told The Sunday Times: ‘Someone like me could have a bottomless appetite for sweets, so I think those drugs can be good.’

Wilson says that she has since regained 20lb due to the stress surrounding the release of her controversial book.

Amy Schumer

Amy Schumer in 2019
The comedian this year

Amy Schumer admitted to taking Ozempic in June 2023 but stopped due to the side-effects. She appeared skinnier at an event earlier this year, right, than when pictured in 2019

Comedian Schumer has criticised celebrities for not being honest about getting so-called skinny jabs.

During an interview in June 2023, the 42-year-old admitted taking it the year before but stopped due to the side-effects.

‘I was one of those people who felt so sick,’ she said.

She joked that she became ‘so skinny’ she didn’t have the energy to play with her five-year-old son.

Schumer, who has also admitted having liposuction — a cosmetic procedure that removes unwanted body fat — said it’s an open secret in Hollywood that Ozempic is in wide use and many stars lie about how they slimmed down.

‘Everyone’s like, “smaller portions”,’ she joked. ‘Shut the f*** up. You’re on Ozempic or one of those things.’

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey in 2018
The talkshow host in January

Oprah Winfrey in 2018 and, right, this January. In December she admitted to using ‘weight loss medication’ and has now reached her 160lb (11st 4lb) goal

The talkshow host, 70, recently said that laughing about her weight became a national pastime in America.

Speaking on her programme Shame, Blame And The Weight Loss Revolution, she said: ‘I was ridiculed on every late-night talk show for 25 years and tabloid covers for 25 years.’

She admitted to trying fad diets, including a liquid- only one that resulted in a 67lb loss (which she quickly regained). In December, Winfrey — who gave up her job as an ambassador for WeightWatchers — admitted to using ‘weight loss medication’, telling People magazine: ‘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 and once again be ridiculed for. I’m done with the shaming.’

She has now reached her 160lb (11st 4lb) goal.

Elon Musk

Elon Musk on holiday in Mykonos in 2022
The X billionaire pictured this year

Elon Musk boasted to his followers that he had dropped 30lb in November 2022. The billionaire looked considerably slimmer when pictured this year, right, than he did on holiday in Mykonos in 2022, left 

In November 2022, the billionaire took to Twitter (the social media platform he’d just bought for £35 billion and renamed X) to boast to his 182 million followers that he had dropped 30lb. When asked what his secret was to looking so ‘fit, ripped, healthy’, the then 50-year-old replied: ‘Fasting + Ozempic/Wegovy + no tasty food near me.’

Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne in 2018
The 71-year-old after taking Ozempic

Sharon Osbourne lost 42lb thanks to Ozempic. Viewers of this year’s Celebrity Big Brother were shocked by her frail appearance compared to her figure in 2018, left

When she appeared on this year’s Celebrity Big Brother, viewers were shocked by her frail appearance.

A rarity among celebrities, Osbourne is refreshingly honest about her weight loss battles.

After trying a gastric band, the 71-year-old admitted that her tiny seven stone frame is down to Ozempic.

She told the Mail: ‘Last December, I resorted to injecting myself with Ozempic… I lost 42lb — that’s 3st — but it was too much. Now, I weigh just over 7st. I need to put on 10lb but, however much I eat, I stay the same weight.’

Stephen Fry

Stephen Fry in 2018
The comedian in 2019

Comedian Stephen Fry dropped five stone by taking Ozempic and looked much thinner in 2019, right, than in 2018

The comedian dropped five stone by taking the drug but eventually stopped as he said it made him so unwell he vomited up to five times a day.

Describing himself as ‘an early adopter’, the 66-year-old said: ‘The first week or so, I was thinking, “This is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don’t want any alcohol of any kind. This is brilliant”.’ But then he felt ‘sicker and sicker’ and stopped using it altogether.

Robbie Williams

Robbie Williams in 2012
The singer this year

While promoting his Netflix series Robbie Williams said his current physique, right, was due to taking ‘something like Ozempic’

Cruelly referred to by Noel Gallagher as ‘the fat dancer from Take That’, Williams has struggled with his weight since his teens.

While promoting his Netflix series, the 50-year-old said that his current ripped physique was due to taking ‘something like Ozempic’. He said he suffered from ‘type 2 self-loathing’ and called the injections ‘a Christmas miracle’.

Despite this, Williams remains an ambassador for WeightWatchers.