I’m a celeb on Ozempic. Here are the secrets and techniques concerning the controversial weight-loss jabs you will not hear from anybody else

Ozempic: it’s a word few people had heard of a year ago, but is now discussed openly at office water coolers, dinner parties and mothers’ groups.

Officially speaking, it is a treatment for type 2 diabetes. But increasingly doctors are prescribing it ‘off label’ for its weight loss effect.

Not since the dawn of Viagra in the late 1990s has a pharmaceutical drug so rapidly entered our cultural lexicon. Barely a day goes without a celebrity or high-profile figure confessing to using it – or accused of doing so surreptitiously.

But what is it really like taking Ozempic when your life is in the spotlight? 

Here, one brave celebrity, who spoke on condition of anonymity, shares her story with unflinching honesty. You will have heard of her: she has been a TV personality for decades, living both here and the U.S. 

She hopes, after reading her account, the general public will not be so quick to roll their eyes whenever a star steps back into the limelight 20kg (3st or 44lbs) lighter than they were a few months before…

A disclaimer: Ozempic is only approved for the treatment of diabetes in Australia. While some doctors may prescribe it for weight loss after a thorough assessment of their patient’s needs, Daily Mail Australia is not endorsing its use for this purpose. You should always seek advice from a medical professional. 

All my life, I’ve battled with my weight, but being in the public eye has made every extra kilo all the more humiliating. My worst moment was being told a decade or so ago that, although I was expected to attend red carpet events, designers had refused to dress me. Flat out refused. They said I was ‘too big’.

I could give you any number of examples of snide remarks that have been made about my figure, but that one hurt the most. 

I tried to carry off being ‘showbiz fat’ as best I could, always smiling, waving, trying to look as though I didn’t have a care in the world, but every public outing was an ordeal.   

Social media was in its infancy then, so at least I didn’t have trolls constantly commenting on my size. But, none the less, the pressure to look good was relentless.

At that time, I was looking good – I was in my thirties and attractive – but I was already struggling to control my weight. As a result, I developed unhealthy eating habits that, to this day, I have been unable to escape.

The lightest I ever got was 70kg (11st or 154lbs). But to achieve that, I practically starved myself. I didn’t eat; then I couldn’t eat.

I became this version of myself that I didn’t recognise – a doll-like figure that still, somehow, was not thin enough in the eyes of my industry, even though the average Australian is 71.8kg (11.3st or 158lbs).

When I see photos of myself then, I know I’m looking at a person who was slimmer than she’s ever been. But all I can think is: ‘She’s fat’.

I was starving. I look back now and cannot believe how unhealthy I was. But all that mattered to me was trying to meet showbiz’s impossible beauty standards.

When you watched me on prime-time TV, I was barely eating. I was exercising to the point of exhaustion. Yet still, the weight would not come off.

I was as thin as I could possibly be – and it was destroying my body.

That’s when I knew something was wrong.

So I tried to live like a normal person – and, naturally, I gained weight. The public scrutiny that accompanied this was unbearable – and that’s putting it lightly.

On one occasion I was in Sydney and some guys driving past threw a milkshake at me from the window and called me a ‘fat pig’.

I have no idea if they even knew who I was. Perhaps those men would have shamed any woman for her size, regardless of whether she was famous.

Can you imagine how horrifying it is to be publicly shamed like that? Now imagine how it feels when that moment is captured on camera and splashed across the tabloids. Mortifying.

I have been photographed on beaches and literally branded on the page with a stamp telling readers my body is something to be ashamed of.

Even after my public profile dimmed, the sick feeling in my stomach never really went away. It took a huge toll on my mental health.

So when I heard about Ozempic, I saw it as a lifeline. It was 2023 and the drug, which began as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, was starting to be recognised for its impact on weight loss. Some doctors began prescribing it to combat obesity.

I was prescribed it by a private doctor, recommended by a friend, and started injecting myself weekly later that year. 

Every week was different. At first there were days I felt so nauseous I thought I was going to die. Sometimes I would throw up just at the thought of food. But at other times, I would feel completely OK.

Even when I felt sick and convinced myself it wasn’t worth it, my need to be skinny always won over. I would tell myself I wasn’t going to take it next week, but then next week would come around, and I would inject myself again. 

I wasn’t sure if it was working at first. But over the weeks I noticed myself consuming less food.

I was doing a lot more work and wasn’t really thinking about opening up the fridge and looking for things to eat around the house.

Although not hungry, food was still a constant at the back of my mind. Isn’t it lunch time? What am I going to make my son for dinner?

At my heaviest, in 2021, I tipped the scales at 130kg (20.5st or 286lbs). I’m now a much healthier 81kg (12.7st or 178lbs) after a year taking 1ml of Ozempic every week.

My goal weight, which I expect to reach but don’t have a set date for, is 71kg (11st or 156lbs).

Critics have dismissed Ozempic as a ‘quick fix’ that shouldn’t replace healthy diet and exercise. But for me, it has been the silver lining of my story. It has given me a sense of control I never thought I’d have.

I seriously believe the drug has transformed my life. It’s not a trick or a cheat – it’s medicine. For the first time I feel I am no longer a prisoner in my own body.

Ozempic has allowed me to let go of the constant anxiety about my size and just live.

Anyone who judges me for using the weight loss jab, but hasn’t lived my life, has no idea what it’s like to deal with the pressure, the constant scrutiny, the humiliation.

After only a few weeks of taking Ozempic, people notice and compliment me, and I finally started to feel good about myself.

Some accused me of ‘cheating’ for not doing things the normal way and going to the gym, but in my head I felt like I was doing it all correctly. I finally felt like I was doing something right.

I was eating less, going for regular walks and in a much better head space.

But it wasn’t just the toxic mix of fame and weight struggles that brought me here: I didn’t want to die from any of the serious health conditions linked to obesity. I wanted to live. I wanted to feel good in my own skin for the first time. This drug has helped me do that.

Being overweight can drive you to the brink – and there’s no way to articulate to a naturally thin person just how relentlessly awful it can be.

But I’m thankful I’ve found something that has helped me reclaim my life. I don’t see it as the ‘easy way’.

I deserve to be happy, healthy, and whole – just like everyone else.

As told to Ali Daher