Mrs. Doubtfire star Harvey Fierstein is opening up about his body transformation while taking a weight loss drug.
“At the most, I lost 120, and then I put 15 back on, which I’ve sort of stayed at that,” Fierstein, 70, told Page Six in an interview published on Sunday, December 22.
Fierstein joked that he considered the years of the COVID-19 pandemic to be his “free years” because he “existed on the screen of my Zoom.” During that time, Fierstein wrote his autobiography, I Was Better Last Night: A Memoir, and began quilting.
When he was at his heaviest, Fierstein shared that he was at about 310 pounds. Now, he’s at 200 pounds. While jokingly making a jab at Ozempic, Fierstein shared that he’s on a different type of weight loss medication called Zepbound.
“I’ve been skinny before, that’s the sad part,” he said. “I’ve been skinny, I’ve been fat, I’ve been skinny, I’ve been fat.”
While explaining why this weight loss time is different, Fierstein pointed out it’s “what the drug actually does for you.” Fierstein explained that he doesn’t feel like he’s “dieting” while taking the weight loss drug.
“I feel like a normal person,” he said. “I can go and have dinner with friends and not have to eat every piece of bread on the table and not then go have ice cream when I’m done with dinner. I know what it is to be full like a normal person.”
Fierstein noted that “people don’t understand that being fat is not a choice.” He added, “It’s something that your body is out of whack and this puts your body in whack. I’m a great believer in it.”
Fierstein, who recently opened the Harvey Fierstein Theatre Lab at the Library for the Performing Arts, is best known for playing Frank Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire.
The movie, which is based on Anne Fine’s 1987 novel Alias Madame Doubtfire, follows Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams), whose wife, Miranda (Sally Field) files for divorce and he decides to spend more time with his kids by posing as elderly British nanny Mrs. Euphegenia Doubtfire.
Fierstein’s character Frank, helped him create the Mrs. Doubtfire costume. He has since starred in films and shows including Independence Day, How I Met Your Mother, Nurse Jackie and Bros. Fierstein reunited with Williams in 2002’s Death to Smoochy.
Years later, Williams died by suicide in 2014 at the age of 63. Before his death, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease with early symptoms beginning in 2013. In the years since Williams’ death, Fierstein has continued to pay tribute to the actor.
“We lost this precious jewel 5 years ago,” Fierstein wrote via Instagram in 2019. “I miss him.”
“[It] was a little difficult for me because I wanted to share with people [who] would be like, ‘How did you do it?’” Fedotowsky, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly. “I lost 20 pounds training for the show. I was working out two to three times a day. My whole day. This was my job for two months. I put everything else to the side.”
According to Fedotowsky, her husband, Kevin Manno, “even took over” parenting children Molly, 8, and Riley, 6, so she could get in shape for Special Forces.
“I was training hardcore. And so, for me, I kept saying to people online, I’m like, ‘Oh, well, I work out two times a day,’” Fedotowsky said. “I know that’s not possible for most moms out there. Moms are busy or people have jobs. I couldn’t tell people this was my job for two months.”
She added, “So, now I’m happy that I can finally tell people, ‘Look, my transformation is not normal. It was my job for two months. That’s why I was able to make this happen. Don’t compare yourself to me.’ That was difficult for me not to have that honest conversation.”
Fedotowsky wanted to get in better shape before she took on the Special Forces courses. In addition to focusing on fitness, the Bachelor Nation star also followed the advice she received from past recruits.
“I talked to Hannah Brown, Beverley Mitchell and Nick Viall, and Beverley told me, ‘Do breathing exercises, focus on the mental.’ That actually really helped me,” Fedotowsky told Us. “I looked into Wim Hof breathing exercises, I was doing meditation and I hired a breathing coach. I really went through it.”
Viall, 44, competed on season 2 of Special Forceswith Mitchell, 43, and expressed to Fedotowsky that the show was “way harder than it looks.”
“He’s like, ‘You are going to be so upset when you watch the show and you see all the stuff they don’t show. It’s a TV show. They have to cut [it] down,’” Fedotowsky recalled. “He’s like, ’It’s going to eat you alive.’ But you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t see that we were going through that.’ Or when you saw Tyler Cameron puke last season, you’re like, ‘Why do you puke? Didn’t look that hard.’ It’s, like, ‘Well, it must’ve been that hard vomiting.’ And so there was that. I think the overall sense I got from the past cast members is they were just so grateful to be a part of it. They’re like, ‘This is going to change your life.’”
“I wanted to prove I was a badass. I’m like, ‘I want to prove myself physically. I want to train as hard as I can, make it to the end. There was no quitting in my mind,’” she told Us. “My girlfriend made me a ring and the inside said, ‘Keep beeping going,’ and she’s like, ‘No matter what.’ I couldn’t wear the ring on the show ’cause you can’t wear jewelry, but I kept thinking about it. ‘Keep going, keep going. Just keep beeping going.’”
Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test premieres on Fox Wednesday, January 8, at 8 p.m. ET.
“So guys, I posted photos from Jingle Ball. I got a lot of comments that were really quite shocking,” the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 48, said in a TikTok video uploaded on Monday, December 16. “People calling me plump, juicy, full-figured, big. All sorts of comments like that.”
Goldschneider shared that the remarks were “not helpful” even if they were meant with the best of intentions.
“You can compliment me without commenting on how much weight you think I’ve gained or what you think of the size of my body. That’s No. 1,” she continued. “No. 2, if you think my body size is full figured and big, I suggest that you sign off of TikTok and OnlyFans and Instagram and you look around the real world and see what a real woman’s body looks like because real women are not skin and bones.”
Goldschneider explained that if she wanted to lose weight quickly, she could start using medications like Ozempic. However, that method is not what works best for her wellbeing.
“If you’re on [Ozempic] — fine,” she said. “But I choose not to do that because I strongly feel that humans are meant to feel hunger and they’re meant to eat food and they are not meant to be skin and bones.”
Goldschneider implored her followers to be mindful of the words they use — especially around young women.
“If you have a daughter, I beg of you, please do not compliment her by telling her the size of her body is bigger,” she advised. “Or just don’t talk about the size of her body unless there’s a medical issue that you need to address.”
Goldschneider explained that in most scenarios, “if somebody’s gained weight, I guarantee you they know it.” She also shared that she wasn’t going to let the comments break her especially when she’s been candid about her struggles with an eating disorder.
“If your intention was not to compliment me but to passive-aggressively insult me and to throw me off my game, that will never f—ing happen,” she retorted. “I recovered from 20 years of anorexia, and I am so proud of myself, and I also happen to think that my body is strong and beautiful and, frankly, it’s a work of f—ing art. So enjoy looking at it. And yeah, that’s it — good talk, guys.”
Goldschneider previously opened up about her struggles in her 2023 memoir, The Weight of Beautiful.
“I lived a life dominated by starvation, where no one dared to ask me if I needed help. For almost two decades, my diet followed a strict set of rules that were never stretched or broken, bound to maintaining a dangerously low body weight,” she penned. “There was no flexibility, there were no days off from exercise, there were no indulgences. And for all that time, through dating and marriage, infertility, parenting, and eventual fame, it was all done in secret.”
Before opening up about her condition, Goldschneider attempted to hide her struggles but many of her RHONJ costars addressed their concerns for her wellbeing including Margaret Josephs and Jennifer Aydin. Goldschneider later revealed that being on the reality series helped during her recovery.
“[The show] did help me recover. … I don’t think I would have recovered if I was the only one holding myself accountable,” she said during a January episode of Jana Kramer’s “Whine Down” podcast. “So having the show, so that I could do this on a public stage, was really helpful to me.”
Kimberly Williams-Paisley is grateful she had husband Brad Paisley by her side as she weathered a private health battle that left her feeling “invisible.”
Williams-Paisley, 53, opened up about her road to recovery in an interview with People published on Wednesday, December 18, revealing she “felt trapped in my own body” while struggling with severe voice loss.
The trouble started in fall 2022 when Williams-Paisley noticed she couldn’t speak.
“It was terrifying. I went to self-blame,” the Father of the Bride actress recalled. “‘I’m not breathing properly, I’m not relying on my vocal training.’ I was beating myself up.”
Paisley, 52, supported his wife as she looked for answers. “I’d give her advice. ‘Do this vocal warm-up with me,’” he told the outlet. “I stepped in[to] it so much!” Williams-Paisley, however, was more grateful for how he lightened the mood, adding, “He’s so good at keeping me laughing. That’s a gift.”
During her health battle, Williams-Paisley was at her “most vulnerable” with Paisley and their sons: William, 17, and Jasper, 15. “They were great cheerleaders for me,” she noted. “To see them embracing me made me feel less alone.”
Williams-Paisley first opened up about her struggles in August after undergoing vocal cord surgery to correct a partial paralysis of her left vocal cord.
Brad Paisley and Kimberly Williams Paisley.
“I’ve been going through a thing. Almost two years ago I lost my voice on stage at my Alzheimer’s event in Nashville. It was embarrassing & scary & it never quite came back. It’s been a challenging couple of years, but we finally got to the bottom of it,” she wrote via Instagram. “I have damage to my laryngeal nerve. I was finally able to have surgery this week at @vanderbilthealth with expert surgeons, & it is sounding so much better!! I have a badass scar that’s smiling at me across my neck.”
At the time, Williams-Paisley admitted she was hesitant about addressing her health publicly, adding, “I’ve been through shame & self-loathing, all kinds of training, breathing techniques, & braces & healing & laughing & crying & explaining. I’ve met many amazing helpers along the way who’ve become amazing friends & I’m feeling SO GRATEFUL.”
“THE OTHER GOOD NEWS: In the last two years, I’ve found power in using my voice in new ways. I’ve healed old emotional wounds,” she continued. “I’ve learned the strength & beauty of silence. I’ve become a serious meditator. I’m deadlifting over a hundred pounds. I’m taking better care of my body. I’m managing stress. I’m dissolving shame. I’m feeling more whole, empowered & joyful.”
Before realizing she needed surgery and being diagnosed with muscle tension dysphonia, Williams-Paisley consulted a voice coach and tried acupuncture and massage to soothe her vocal cords. She also explored antidepressants, Invisalign braces, a vegan diet, hypnosis, a psychic and an astrologer — but nothing helped.
“[There were] days when I didn’t want to do anything. Days when I was extra tired. Cycling anxiety thoughts in the middle of the night. I wouldn’t say I had clinical depression, but I was sad,” she told People. “There were days when I grieved and sobbed. I wondered, ‘Who am I without my voice?'”
Two years after it inexplicably disappeared, Williams-Paisley isn’t shying away from making her voice heard.
“Now, no matter what my physical voice is, my voice underneath is stronger. I feel more confident. I know myself better,” she shared. “I still can’t yell down the road. And at the end of a long day of talking, I’ll sound a little more raspy than I used to, but I think that’s sexy. And I’ve learned that when you talk quieter, people lean in, which is not bad either.”
She concluded: “I feel empowered now. I don’t want to leave things unsaid. I never want to take my voice for granted — and I want to be brave in using it.”
Jacob Roloff’s wife, Isabel Roloff, wanted all the dirty details about her gallbladder after undergoing surgery earlier this month.
Isabel revealed via social media on Monday, December 16, that she asked her physician if it was possible to receive photos of the removed organ after it caused her so much pain.
“I asked my surgeon to take pictures of my gallbladder during surgery,” the Little People, Big World alum said in an Instagram Story post, noting that her surgeon showed her the pictures before she was discharged later that same day.
Isabel recalled her doctor telling her the gallbladder was “going to burst” and was full of “hundreds of stones,” even going so far as to compare the enlarged organ to “the size of a golf ball!”
The reality star added that she would show her followers the pictures, but confessed that the post “might be too graphic.”
Isabel gave her fans a scare on Monday when she revealed that she was headed to the emergency room for “pain meds.” She updated her followers later that day explaining that she’s been “living with chronic gallbladder pain for at least four years” after a 2020 unspecified diagnosis.
After visiting a nearby urgent care for abdominal pain, she was advised to go to the ER where doctors performed an emergency gallbladder removal surgery. “I actually woke up crying from such instant relief after the surgery,” Isabel said via Instagram, noting she still had “some pain” from the incision site.
Isabel later confirmed that she was “headed home” on Monday, sharing a photo of herself in a wheelchair with a “Feel better soon” balloon.
Isabel Sofia
Since getting home, she has had help from her husband, 27, with recovery. “This guy has been a really good ‘nurse’ taking good care of me,” Isabel shared via her Instagram Story on Tuesday, December 17, posting a photo with Jacob.
Jacob and Isabel tied the knot in September 2019 after dating five years. They welcomed their first child, son Mateo, in 2021.
Just a few weeks prior to Isabel’s emergency surgery, she and Jacob celebrated Mateo’s third birthday with a party at the Roloff family farm in Oregon, where they live and work.
“What a great day celebrating our 3 year old Thank you everyone for coming!!” the couple captioned a joint Instagram post on December 8. The truck-themed party featured chocolate chip muffins and Christmas cookies for guests, which included both family and friends.
Since being diagnosed with skin cancer, Teddi Mellencamp has used her platform to remind fans to take care of their skin.
Mellencamp revealed in March 2022 that she had a mole removed on her back. “This is a reminder to please go get your yearly skin checks,” the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum wrote in an Instagram statement at the time, confessing that she avoided her own skin checks “for a very long time” because of “anxiety.”
Fellow Bravo star Kyle Richards was the one who encouraged Mellencamp to consult a dermatologist. “When @kylerichards18 saw my back and it had changed colors again, she immediately took me to the doc who within minutes said it looks like melanoma and did a big removal,” Mellencamp wrote. “Please let this be a reminder to take action on your own skin.”
Later that month, Mellencamp shared the good news that her melanoma was “in situ, which means the cancer cells were contained in that area of my skin and have not spread any deeper.”
She continued: “I really hope that in sharing all of this, I can encourage all of you to get your skin checked annually— if I hadn’t gone in, I don’t want to think about how it could have gone differently.”
Scroll down to follow Mellencamp’s skin cancer journey after her initial diagnosis:
October 2022
Mellencamp revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage II melanoma months after her initial consultation. “Melanoma awareness update. Despite my anxiety, I listened to the doctors and went in for my 3-month skin check last week since my previous melanoma,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “They said I had another abnormal spot near my last one so they did a biopsy. I got the call this morning: Stage 2 melanoma.”
She told fans to take doctors’ orders seriously, writing, “Moral of this story: if a doctor says, ‘come in every 3 months’ please go in every 3 months. I so badly wanted to blow this off. ‘What could happen in 3 months?’ I thought. Apparently a lot.”
Mellencamp noted that she used to put baby oil and iodine on her skin as a teen to get tan and didn’t start wearing sunscreen or getting her moles checked until she was 40. “This has been such a wakeup call for me, and I hope to all of you, to love and protect the skin you’re in,” she concluded.
Mellencamp revealed in another Instagram post that she had two more moles removed that also came back as melanoma. “Due to so many melanoma’s [sic] in one are, they are worried to cut in there and try to remove because they aren’t sure what they would be cutting into,” she wrote, before detailing her new treatment plan, which involved undergoing a PET scan and seeing a hematology specialist and a surgical oncologist.
October 2022
Mellencamp shared the results of her PET scan via Instagram, including snaps of where her melanomas were removed. “They think I’m predisposed to melanomas,” she noted. “I will need wide encision [sic] surgery removal and nodal mapping. During the surgery they will also do a sentinel lymphoid biopsy. Because with a PET scan they can’t see if it’s spread to lymph nodes.”
She got candid about her post-op recovery in another social media update days later. “I don’t share this for sympathy- I am sharing because one of the things that keeps me going through all of this is your messages telling me you are getting tested,” Mellencamp wrote. “I am grateful to my family, friends and husband who welcomed my pain and anxiety with open arms. I you all so much and I just know I am going to kick this cancer’s a**- with the help of my incredible doctors and nurses of course.”
Mellencamp ended the post on an inspirational note, writing, “Life comes in waves and we will always be stronger for it… on the good days and the bad .”
Mellencamp showed off her back and shoulder scars while revealing that her multiple melanoma removal surgeries were successful. “The margins are clear. I also got genetic testing results and there are no mutations we need to worry about,” she stated. “And I just had a healthy mammogram (please don’t forgo these either, ladies). So I say peace out to 11 melanomas and 3 lymph nodes— I gladly hardly knew ya— and hello to a new sense of peace.”
The “Two Ts In A Pod” podcast cohost continued: “It’s been eye-opening how quickly things can change and it’s a lesson I will never forget, nor quit speaking up about. I want nothing more than for all of you to be proactive so you do not have to experience this. Let my scars be your inspiration to get preventative care.”
January 2023
Despite her previous removals, Mellencamp developed three new spots that “needed to be biopsied.” She explained via Instagram, “I have had both white and brown melanomas; this is why I continue to share to get checked no matter what.”
She also asked doctors about a suspicious bump on her neck. “The ultrasound came back irregular,” Mellencamp noted. “I had the option of a needle biopsy or getting it cut out completely; the doctor recommended the biopsy to start, however there’s a small chance it’ll come back inconclusive and we will then have to remove it.”
Mellencamp said she was “dealing as best I can with something out of my control,” adding, “Things I can control: staying on top of my appointments, self-checks, and asking my doctors questions.”
Mellencamp partnered with the Melanoma Research Foundation to help raise awareness for skin cancer by showing off her biopsy scars in a “#GetNaked” campaign photo shoot. That same month, she encouraged fans to add sunscreen to their daily skincare routines.
September 2023
More than one year after her initial diagnosis, Mellencamp revealed that another of her biopsied spots came back as melanoma. “I can’t even remember if this is the 12th or 13th one,” she captioned a tearful selfie via Instagram. “At this point, I am starting to black-out these memories like a portion of my childhood. I slept maybe 2 hours last night because my mind was racing.”
Although the melanoma was caught early, Mellencamp explained that she would need “another surgery next week and additional biopsies.”
One day later, she said “the key” to dealing with her multiple health scares was “getting out there and moving my body, releasing my emotions [and] fixing my mindset.” She added, “Whatever you’re going through, letting the negative fester only holds you down. And we aren’t here to be held down. We are stronger than that. We are meant for more than that. So if you’re struggling with something today, this is for you.”
After undergoing multiple biopsies, Mellencamp revealed via Instagram that the area of her melanomas on her back is too “broad,” adding that doctors “no longer feel comfortable cutting [into it.” She explained, “They said I can wait a week so I can show at nationals but upon my return I will start on a 5-week immunotherapy cream.”
The cream is supposed to help the body’s immune system attack cancer cells and comes with side effects such as fatigue, blisters and inflammation. “Stay vigilant on getting your skin checked my friends. We can fight this ,” she concluded her post.
December 2023
Mellencamp opened up about a setback in her treatment.
“Long story short: The immunotherapy treatment did not work on my melanomas. I had a wide excision removal on my most recent melanoma last week to see if it did and sadly it did not,” she captioned an Instagram photo of her back, which displayed her scars from past procedures.
Mellencamp then shared that she will undergo surgery on December 26 “to remove a larger portion of the problematic area.”
She wrapped up the post by reminding her followers to “book your skin checks for the new year.”
Weeks later, Mellencamp had a “wide excision melanoma” procedure, which “went well.”
“I specifically went through a ‘wide excision melanoma, soft tissue defect reconstruction with adjacent tissue rearrangement.’ Basically, they cut out the area of my shoulder and replaced it with a flap of skin from below on my back,” she wrote via Instagram. “But the pain and discomfort are all worth it.”
She added: “The outpouring of love and prayers in the comments and DMs has left me speechless (which is tough). I wish I could respond to everyone but please know I am forever grateful. Please get your skin checked. I promise you do not want to go through this.”
March 2024
Mellencamp gave an update on how her scars were healing three months after her initial surgery.
“What a difference 3 months can make!” she wrote via Instagram alongside before and after shots of her back. “My scar is healing nicely, and I have the best doctors to thank.”
While the marks were improving, the former reality star revealed that her doctor had noticed a new spot in another section of her body that needed to be checked out.
“But in full transparency, also during my three-month checkup, there was one abnormal spot the doctor felt we should biopsy,” she continued. “It’s on the other side of my body, so praying it’s nothing. But [I] felt it’s a great time to remind you to get those skin checks .”
December 2024
“I just got done having a little cry, but it’s a good one. It’s the first time in over two years I’ve gone in for my three-month check and not had to have a biopsy because I have another cancerous spot,” Mellencamp tearfully told fans in an Instagram video. “Both me and my doctor, we just looked at each other and we were like, ‘What?’ It was, oh my gosh, such a good feeling.”
Noting that she will have another check-up in March 2025, she continued: “This should be a reminder to all of you guys, please, please book your skin checks, book your mammograms, book your OBGYN appointments, book your eye doctor appointments.”
Mellencamp also shared a “scar update” photo of her back. “Over 1000 stitches later. Get your skin check please,” she wrote over the pic.
Brittany Mahomes continues to hit the gym in the third trimester of her pregnancy.
Brittany, 29, shared her workout routine via Instagram Stories on Monday, December 16, showing off her baby bump in a video where she lifts weights and does squats and lunges. She sported a lavender set by Vitality and white sneakers with her long, blonde hair pulled back into an easy ponytail.
The clip was first posted by Brittany’s trainer, Kirsty Rae, who captioned it: “Third trimester is my fave stage of pregnancy when it comes to training. there’s studies that show your body basically goes into superhuman mode to prepare for childbirth. so badass.”
In another video, Brittany tilts her head to the side as she snaps a selfie during a break. “Feeling very pregnant,” she wrote in a caption, adding a laughing emoji.
Earlier this month, the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted footage of herself working out in a cheetah print one-piece.
“We workin,” Brittany wrote on December 3, referencing Rae.
Brittany Mahomes’ Instagram Story on Monday, December 16.
She and Patrick announced in July that they are gearing up to welcome baby No. 3. “Round three, here we come,” the couple announced in an Instagram post at the time.
The pair tied the knot in March 2022, two years after he proposed. They are already the parents of daughter Sterling, 3, and son Bronze, 2, both of whom appeared in Brittany and Patrick’s pregnancy announcement.
Brittany has been showing off her maternity fashion while supporting her husband at Chiefs games, and with Rae’s encouragement, has offered an inside look at her prepartum workouts via social media.
“Many women experience what’s called ‘mom butt’ during and after pregnancy, which happens when the glutes lose shape and muscle mass,” Rae explained via Instagram in late October. “This is often due to changes in posture and how we move as our bodies adjust to pregnancy.”
In the accompanying video, Brittany could be seen working out to avoid this particular phenomenon.
“By focusing on glute engagement and maintaining strength training, you can actually continue to build muscle,” the trainer added. “It’s all about proper movement, posture, and progressive overload.”
The day before posting her latest fitness regimen, Brittany stepped out on the sidelines of Patrick’s latest away game against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, December 15. She paired a beige puffy jacket, emblazoned with “Chiefs,” with fuzzy earmuffs from Prada.
Ahead of kickoff, Brittany made sure to spend time with Patrick on the field, and they shared a sweet sideline kiss.
“He doesn’t get nervous or stressed at all. That’s just what he likes to do,” Brittany said during an August appearance on the “WHOOP” podcast, noting that she gets more anxious about the games. “I think he loves going into a new week having new game plans, having new challenges, having new people that he’s playing.”
Florence Pugh has never been afraid to call out unattainable Hollywood beauty standards throughout her career.
In 2019, Pugh famously hit back at a review that compared the size of her thighs to those of the WWE pro Saraya Jade Bevis (a.k.a. Paige), who she portrayed in the movie Fighting With My Family.
“Oh dear,” she tweeted in response to the Evening Standard’s story that March. “Singling out my ‘chunky’ thighs doesn’t help normalizing an ‘all shape & size’ Hollywood. In fact that’s part of the problem. I do hope people take more away from the film than the circumference of my hams.”
The Oscar nominee has also sparked conversation with several of her stunning red carpet looks. In particular, the pink, see-through dress she donned at the Valentino Haute Couture Fashion Show in July 2022 made headlines as it showed off her nipples.
Clapping back at haters, she wrote via Instagram at the time, “What’s been interesting to watch and witness is just how easy it is for men to totally destroy a woman’s body, publicly, proudly, for everyone to see. You even do it with your job titles and work emails in your bio. … It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time a woman will hear what’s wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be.”
Scroll below to read Pugh’s most empowering body positivity quotes over the years.
While speaking with the Sunday Times, Pugh opened up about why she’s been a fierce body-positive advocate.
“Look, not everybody has legs that go on for days,” Pugh explained. “I remember watching this industry and feeling that I wasn’t represented. I remember … watching women getting torn apart despite being talented and beautiful. The only thing people want to talk about is some useless crap about how they look. I didn’t care to abide by those rules. I’ve loved challenging ideas I don’t like.”
She added, “I wanted to challenge how women were perceived, how we are supposed to look. Actually, I wasn’t trying to challenge. I just wanted to be there, to make space for a version of a person that isn’t all the things they used to have to be. I’m proud I’ve stuck by myself and look the way I look.”
Pugh, in particular, wants to be able to “help young women coming into this industry by making conversations happen where they weren’t before.”
“[The internet’s] a very mean place. It’s really painful to read people being nasty about my confidence or nasty about my weight. It never feels good,” Pugh remarked in an interview with British Vogue. “The one thing I always wanted to achieve was to never sell someone else, something that isn’t the real me.”
As for how she continued to stay true to herself? “I don’t think it’s confidence in hoping people like me. I think it’s just, like, I don’t want to be anyone else,” she stated.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Pugh revealed that she doesn't feel pressure to look a particular way to be considered a role model.
"When I started out, my granddad would always tell me off and be like, 'Why are you showing everyone your ugly spots?'" the Midsommar star shared. "He’d be really confused as to why I’d show my cellulite. My answer was like, 'Well, I’d much rather do it than they do it, and then I feel ashamed.'"
When it comes to how she portrays herself in the public eye, she stated, "There's no pretending with me," adding, "When I put on makeup and step in a wonderful dress, I give credit to the people that made me look like that, and I also want my fans to know that a) I don’t look like that all the time and b) I also have stress acne, and I also have hairy eyebrows and I also have greasy hair."
She concluded her thoughts, stating, "I’ve always thought that was a way better way to do it. Just be honest and open — then no one has to call you out for anything. You are who you are."
"Body image for women is a major thing," Pugh stated while showing off her cooking skills in a Vogue YouTube video. "From the moment you start growing thighs and bums and boobs and all of it, everything starts changing. And your relationship with food starts changing."
She went on to recall a "weird chapter with the beginning of my career" where people in Hollywood found it "confusing" that she wasn't "complying" to fit certain beauty standards.
"I think women, especially young women in Hollywood, are obviously putting themselves in all these ways in order to get whatever opportunity that they need to get because that's just the way it's been."
But as she stated, "I think I definitely put my foot down in that aspect," adding, "I love food."
Calling out critics of her sheer Valentino gown via Instagram, the England native slammed comments regarding disappointment over breast size.
"So many of you wanted to aggressively let me know how disappointed you were by my 'tiny tits,' or how I should be embarrassed by being so 'flat chested,'" she captioned her post. "I’ve lived in my body for a long time. I’m fully aware of my breast size and am not scared of it."
She continued, "I’m very grateful that I grew up in a household with very strong, powerful, curvy women. We were raised to find power in the creases of our body. To be loud about being comfortable. It has always been my mission in this industry to say 'f--k it and f--k that' whenever anyone expects my body to morph into an opinion of what’s hot or sexually attractive."
Pugh ended her post with some words of advice for haters. "Grow up. Respect people. Respect bodies. Respect all women. Respect humans," she declared. "Life will get a whole lot easier, I promise."
When it came to taking on the role of Russian assassin Yelena Belova for Marvel's Black Widow, Pugh told Elle that she wanted to be a part of the workout and diet process from the very beginning.
"When I got the job, I wanted to know what the regime was," she stated. "I wanted to know whether it was them or me calling the shots. That was a big deal for me. I didn’t want to be part of something where I was constantly checked on. And people making sure I was in the 'right' shape. That’s not me at all."
After the U.K.'s Evening Standard referred to her thighs as "chunky" in a film review for Fighting With My Family, the Lady Macbeth star took to Twitter to clarify her thoughts on the article.
"No one upset because of the word 'chunky,'" she tweeted. "Whether positive or negative there is totally no need in a film review to highlight how big OR small any part of my body is. Commenting on it like this doesn’t educate, it only highlights unnecessarily and that is why people are upset.
To quote Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria character, she’s “never, ever been happier” — and that means body-shaming comments won’t faze her.
“I see it, and I just can’t allow myself to have a reaction,” Sweeney told Variety in March 2024. “I don’t know how to explain it; I’m still trying to figure it out myself. People feel connected and free to be able to speak about me in whatever way they want because they believe that I’ve signed my life away.”
She added, “It’s this weird relationship that people have with me that I have no control or say over.”
The Anyone But You star, however, still remembers that she operates on “a human level” first, aside from being solely an actress. Part of that mindset includes living her best life.
In December 2024, she was photographed in a lavender bikini, which prompted unprovoked comments about her weight. She swiftly clapped back, sharing the worst ones on her Instagram in a montage of her workout routine. (Sweeney had been bulking up to play boxer Christy Martin in a biopic.)
Suffice it to say, Sweeney has become one of Us Weekly’s favorite body positive icons. Scroll before for more of her tips and tricks:
Finding ‘Power in My Femininity’
While speaking with Variety in August 2023, Sweeney reiterated that she’s proud of who she is.
“I find power in my femininity,” she stressed. “I use my brain, and I use everything that I’m learning every single day in this industry as my power. Knowledge is everything.”
A Confident Queen
Sydney Sweeney
In September 2023, Sweeney told Women’s Health that she tries to be her own role model.
“I look up to the older version of myself,” she said. “When I was 10, I looked up to the 25-year-old version of myself, and now I look up to my 50-year-old version. I hope I make the decisions she would be proud of.”
And yes, Sweeney is proud of where she’s gotten thus far.
“Whenever a new challenge presents itself and I’m not scared to push myself to try, that’s when I’m really proud of who I am,” she noted. “I know that my body can keep going — it’s more just that mental challenge to push myself through. I take that skill into skiing, into acting, into anything I do, because it’s always more mental than physical. Of course, you have to train, but it’s mind over matter at the end of the day.”
Growing up, Sweeney would cover up her body underneath baggy clothes.
“When I was in high school, I used to feel uncomfortable about how big my boobs were,” she told Glamour UKin December 2023. “I used to say that when I turned 18, I was going to get a boob job to make them smaller. My mom told me, ‘Don’t do it. You’ll regret it in college.’ And I’m so glad I didn’t. I like them. They’re my best friends.”
Eventually, Sweeney learned that her mother, Lisa, was right (as so many moms are!) about the mindset.
“Once I became more confident with myself, [it changed]. I want to show girls that it’s amazing and beautiful and empowering to have the bodies that we have,” the actress explained. “Everybody’s body is beautiful. When you are confident and you’re happy within, it really shows to other people. … Flaunt what you got. Own it. Love them.”
She’s ‘Unapologetically Myself’
“I’m always really proud to be very unapologetically myself and the director of my own life,” Sweeney told People in August 2024, noting she uses fashion to “embrace different sides” of her personality.
She continued, “Some days, I might feel very girly, some days, I might feel edgy. Others, I might feel like I want to be more laid-back. It’s a way of being able to express those different sides of how I feel or who I am.”
It’s All About Balance
Sydney Sweeney
Sweeney also prioritizes her physical and mental well-being.
“It’s definitely an ongoing challenge and journey that I’m trying to find within myself, and every day poses its own challenges,” she told Real Simple in September 2024. “I’m a firm believer in balance in every aspect of life. … I like to stay constantly going — it fuels me and makes me really happy.”
Training Hard
Sweeney overhauled her workout regimen to portray former pro boxer Christy Martin on the big screen.
“Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman — a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring,” Sweeney wrote via Instagram in October 2024. “Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honored to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all.”
Three months later, Sweeney was criticized by online trolls for putting on weight. She clapped back by editing together a video of the mean comments and footage from her workout, captioning it, “Christy Martin Strong.”
Sweeney, 27, didn’t take the digs lying down — and swiftly shut them down by posting them to her Instagram. In a Friday, December 13, social media video, Sweeney made a montage of all the criticism.
“Too pale and she needs to lose a few bonds around the model,” one wrote, as another chimed in, “Whoever this individual is, she has a horrible body.”
Other social media users called Sweeney’s body “very chunky” and speculated the actress could be an “Ozempic candidate.” (Ozempic and similar semaglutides are prescribed to individuals who struggle with weight-related conditions. The injections are not recommended for casual weight loss.)
Sweeney reposted the video to her Instagram Story on Saturday, December 14, with the caption, “Christy Martin Strong .”
Sweeney was recently cast as Martin, a former professional boxer, in an upcoming biopic.
“Well, the cats out of the bag … so here’s a little BTS from my film I’m working on right now,” the Anyone But You star wrote via Instagram in October. “Over the past few months, I’ve been immersed in training to bring to life the story of an incredible woman—a true champion who fought battles both inside and outside the ring.”
Sydney Sweeney
Sweeney added, “Her journey is a testament to resilience, strength, and hope, and I’m honored to step into her shoes to share her powerful story with you all. More to come soon.”
Sweeney’s impassioned clapback was also supported by a number of her peers in Hollywood. She even reposted makeup artist Melissa Hernandez’s own comments about the video.
“PERIOD!” Hernandez wrote via her Instagram Story. “So proud @sydney_sweeney for embracing her transformation for this role — your dedication and strength are truly inspiring. It’s heartbreaking how cruel and miserable people can be, but don’t let their negative overshadow your brilliance.”
Rachel Brosnahan, Isabela Merced and Lili Reinhart were among the other celebrities to have Sweeney’s back.
“It’s always wild to see people publicly out-themselves as pieces of s— with comments like that,” Reinhart, 28, replied on Friday. “You look incredible and your dedication to your project is very inspiring .”
Merced, 23, for her part, added, “The thing is these people would never say it in person. Too scared. But if they ever did? best believe it’s hands .”
Sweeney’s mother, Lisa, also noted in a separate comment that she was “beyond proud” of the Euphoria alum.
“I got what’s called a lip flip,” she explained. “It was my first ever. And everyone was like, ‘You’re gonna love it, you little lips.’ And I didn’t love it because I couldn’t smile and I was like —”
Trainor then contorted her face, attempting to show the cohosts what she looked like post-Botox fail.
Despite the experience being what she called “the most painful thing,” Trainor was able to look back on it with humor, even going so far as to poke fun at herself for not realizing what she was getting into.
“And I was like, ‘This is gonna look great!’ And my dad walked in while I was having it, and I was like, ‘Oh no,'” she explained, adding that she received additional Botox.“in my jaw because they say it can help you with clenching.” She believes “the mixture of the two” led to the overall Botox debacle.
Today cohost Jenna Bush Hager joked that Trainor could now give a PSA about the possible risks of Botox injections. Turns out, Trainor did exactly that on the November 20 episode of her “Workin On It” podcast.
“To all my fellow girlies out there who’s in your 30s: Hi, I got too much Botox. I need help,” she said with a laugh. “I messed up. Listen, I’ve had Botox, like, a handful of times … just in my forehead and someone convinced me, with my little lips, that if you did a lip flip, you put filler right above your upper lip that you could have a beautiful flip on your upper lip. And I could have one for the first time in my whole 30 years of living. It was not true.”
Although her Botox experience did not go as planned, Trainor has explained why she wanted the treatment in the first place.
“I just want to freeze myself right here. I want to look like this forever,” she said on an August 2023 episode of her podcast. “But I don’t need Botox as much as they say. Mine lasts so long, it’s great.”
The incident has not deterred Trainor from exploring additional cosmetic procedures, either. In fact, said she plans to get a boob job.
“My mommy boobies were full of milk and now they’re empty and then they’re full of milk and now they’re empty,” she explained. “They got big, they got small, they got big, they got small. I’ve lost some weight and I have, like, saggy sacks as boobs.”
Bryan Johnson spends $2 million a year on longevity treatments. We spent a day with the tech entrepreneur who wants to live forever, getting a close-up look at his antiaging meals, supplements, clinical procedures, and daily exercise routine.
Katharine McPhee has learned to give herself grace when it comes to her health and nutrition after struggling with an eating disorder for years.
“I’ve really been a big believer in intuitive eating,” McPhee, 40, exclusively reveals in the latest issue of Us Weekly while celebrating Bio.me’s new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors, chocolate and chai. “If your body is craving things that are heavy in fiber, heavy in protein, [it’s] because your body needs those things.”
The actress explains that she tries to be “mindful and logical” about what she eats, noting that if she’s “craving” something she doesn’t deprive herself. “You just let yourself have it,” she says.
McPhee explains that whether it’s a stop at Burger King — which she tells Us was her most-recent indulgence courtesy of her husband David Foster, who is “obsessed” with the chain — or drinking a milkshake, it doesn’t matter — she’s listening to her body.
“The problem is [when] you’re having, like, three milkshakes instead of one,” she adds. “So I’ve been into intuitive eating for a long time.”
McPhee — who sat down with Us earlier this month at the Bio.me’s APRÉS BIO.ME launch event at Little Lunch in Venice Beach, California — notes that listening to her body also means not having “so many rules and regulations” during certain times of the year.
“I had a lot of issues around food,” she recalls. “And the more pressure that I had put on myself, like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s the holidays. Don’t go crazy. You can’t eat this,’ the more crazy that I went.”
Katharine McPhee celebrates the launch of bio.me’s new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors at Little Lunch in Venice on December 3rd.
McPhee opened up in February 2010 about her seven-year battle with bulimia, telling Shape that “the more I focused on my weight, the worse my bulimia got.”
“Now I’m more easygoing,” she told the publication. “I stopped fighting myself and became more forgiving of my body. Ironically, the weight came off naturally through exercise but no dieting.”
At the time, the Broadway star said she stopped paying attention to the scale and focused instead on being healthy. When McPhee was pregnant in 2020 with her son, Rennie, she went through another bout of “body-issue stuff.”
After gaining 40 pounds, the singer confessed that she worried she might backslide into her disordered eating habits. “It just suddenly came up in a way that hadn’t been present in a long time,” McPhee explained during a March 2021 episode of the “Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy” podcast. “Feeling like there was a relapse after getting pregnant was shocking and upsetting and concerning for me because I was suddenly so obsessed with food, starting from this first trimester, and I had such a distortion of the way that I looked.”
It took the Smash alum time to realize that feeling “ravenous” in her first trimester wasn’t the “eating disordered-version” of her, but what she needed to fuel her body during pregnancy. Since welcoming her son in February 2021, McPhee has continued to embrace her body’s signals.
Part of that process means treating the holidays like a “continuation of the rest of the year.” She tells Us, “You can indulge a little bit, but it’s no different than indulging on Valentine’s Day and indulging on the Fourth of July.”
Katharine McPhee celebrates the launch of bio.me’s new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors at Little Lunch in Venice on December 3rd.
McPhee continues, “I don’t feel pressure on myself, just the more pressure you put on a certain time, the more you’re likely to overindulge. So that is the principle I live by — not setting such rigid rules for myself.”
Outside of giving herself grace with food, McPhee tells Us she’s been doing her best to improve her gut health. “I’m a big believer in that the gut is essential to great, strong immunity,” she says, pointing out that she’s “always been into” probiotics and yogurts.
Adding fiber into her diet, however, has been a tougher feat. “We all know fiber is important,” McPhee explains, revealing that like protein, fiber is a must-have to keep your gut in check, which is why she takes supplements.
“I’m thrilled to have another thing to make it easier to just feel good,” she says, gushing over Bio.me’s new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors. “I have a lot of joint issues, even for only being 40, I have a lot of aches and pains from years of dancing. So all that kind of [fiber] stuff is a [godsend].”
Learn more about gut health innovator Bio.me and its new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors at bio.me.
For more on McPhee’s health journey and plans for the holidays pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
Raven-Symoné recalled having her first breast reduction at 15 years old.
“I had my first breast reduction at 15,” she revealed on the Thursday, December 5, episode of her “Tea Time with Raven & Miranda” podcast, which she cohosts with wife Miranda Pearman-Maday. “I went from a triple D all the way down to a B.” The now-38-year-old added, “Someone said I needed to do it in order to get a show.”
Raven-Symoné, 38, is perhaps best known for her role as Raven Baxter on the Disney Channel original series That’s So Raven, which she landed when she was 15 years old. “It’s going in my book,” Raven-Symoné continued. “At the same time, I’m like, if you’re gonna take my boobs out, I wanted lipo. I was like, ‘One-for-one, bro. Let’s go.’”
That’s So Raven aired on Disney Channel for four seasons from 2003 to 2007, with Raven-Symoné as the titular character. (She also reprised the role in the spinoff Raven’s Home from 2017 to 2023.)
“I felt like boys watched the show because I had big boobs,” Raven-Symoné said of That’s So Raven on her podcast. “I feel like that was the case. They came for the boobs and stayed for the comedy.”
She added, “There’s this beautiful embracing of the body now that I didn’t get as a young girl.”
Raven-Symoné and guest Michelle Buteau continued to discuss their shared history of breast reduction surgeries including her “anchor scar.” Raven-Symoné explained, “When you have a breast reduction, underneath the areola they make a little incision and they come down straight underneath the boob and, like, filet you from the bottom and it looks like an anchor.”
The That’s So Raven alum added, “Yeah, it’s different, because when you gain weight those boobs come back no matter what. They come right back.”
Raven-Symoné first opened up about her surgeries in an episode of her and wife Pearman-Maday’s podcast in August 2023, where she revealed that she “had two breast reductions and lipo before I turned 18.”
At the time, she noted that there was “paperwork involved” for her to get the procedures because she was still a minor. “My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced,” she revealed. “And he was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’ And so, I got a twofer.”
Her first surgery came with complications, as the actress suffered a seizure when she awoke from the anesthesia. She also recalled the challenge of going through such a painful recovery at a young age. “I have scars. I still have scar tissue to this day,” she shared. “And I gained weight after and had to, like, go back for a quick little, like, [get] a little bit more out ‘cause [my breasts] were still too big for others’ feelings.”
Ariana Grande has heard it all about her body, and she’s had enough.
The Wicked star recently appeared on the web series Oui Oui Baguette where she vented about the body shaming she has faced since first entering the public eye as a teenager.
“I’ve been doing this in front of the public, and kind of been a specimen in a petri-dish since I was 16 or 17,” she said as she fought back tears on the Thursday, December 5, episode. “So I have heard it all. I’ve heard every version of it, of what’s wrong with me. And then you fix it, and then it’s wrong for different reasons.”
Grande, now 31, knows the issue isn’t reserved solely for those in Hollywood.
“It’s something that is uncomfortable no matter what scale you’re experiencing it on,” she continued. “Even if you go to Thanksgiving dinner and someone’s granny says, ‘Oh my god, you look skinnier, what happened?’ or, ‘You look heavier, what happened?’ That is something that is uncomfortable and horrible no matter where it’s happening.”
“There’s a comfortability that people have commenting onthat I think is really dangerous.”
She added that those comments, even if they don’t come from a place of malice, are dangerous.
“However you all can protect yourself from that noise, whether it’s at a family reunion or online, you keep yourself safe,” she said. “Because no one has the right to say s—.”
As host Crazy Sally applauded and her Wicked costar Cynthia Erivo backed her up with an “amen,” Grande cracked a smile.
“Can you tell I needed that today?” she asked.
Afterwards, Grande was appreciative of Sally for giving her the opportunity to speak on the subject. Sally promoted the interview by posting a picture of herself with the two actresses, and Grande expressed her gratitude in the comments.
“Thank you so much again for your warmth and kindness,” she wrote. “It felt like a big, beautiful hug meeting and speaking with you.”
Grande has been candid about the topic in the past as well. In 2023, she explained in a video via TikTok that people comparing her present appearance to how she looked in the past is dangerous.
“For me, the body you’ve been comparing my current body to was the unhealthiest version of my body,” she said. “You never know what someone is going through. So even if you are coming from a loving place or caring place, that person is probably working on it or has a support system that they are working on it with.”
She added that she “shouldn’t have to explain” her body and “you’re beautiful no matter what you’re going through.”
Ozempic has become a hot topic when it comes to weight loss — with some stars confirming they have used the drug while others denied it.
Chelsea Handler admitted during a January 2023 episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast that she unknowingly took the Type 2 diabetes medication, which is traditionally used to improve glycemic control. She explained her anti-aging doctor prescribed her Semaglutide, which is another name for Ozempic, but Handler stopped using it after learning more.
“I’m not on it anymore. That’s too irresponsible,” Handler clarified. “I’m an irresponsible drug user, but I’m not gonna take a diabetic drug.”
Kyle Richards, meanwhile, was accused of using the diabetes medicine in January 2023 after posting a picture of herself showing off her abs in a bathing suit. “I am NOT taking Ozempic. Never have,” Richards commented on Page Six’s Instagram at the time.
See what celebrities have said about Ozempic — and other weight loss drugs like Mounjaro — below:
The model exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2024 that she briefly tried Ozempic.
“I took, like, a little bit when it first came out, and everyone was doing it,” Nader told Us. “It made me really nauseous. I liked it — I am not going to lie — and when I went on Dancing with the Stars, I could not do both.”
Nader competed on season 33 of DWTS earlier that year, getting eliminated in October 2024.
“It was one or the other, and I picked dancing. I put the shot away,” she said, noting that Ozempic decreased her motivation to work out.
The Today show host got candid with the Daily Mail about his own weight loss journey, having undergone gastric bypass surgery in 2002. Because of that, Roker noted that he would never “judge anybody” for how they choose to lose weight, whether they use drugs like Ozempic or not.
“I'm not gonna judge anybody,” he said in November 2024. “Listen, it's unlike any other addiction or dependence. You can live without alcohol, you can live without cigarettes, whatever that drug of choice is, but you've got to eat, and so for some people, it's just difficult.”
Roker added that, when it comes to weight loss and improving one’s relationship with food, “They've got to figure out their path.” He noted, “And if that path is one of these drugs and that works for them, great. And if it helps you, if that's the thing that gets you over that point where you're able to be healthier and lead a more active lifestyle, that's great.”
The food critic and son of Queen Camilla recalled a humorous story where he requested Ozempic from his doctor, who told him to “f– off.”
“He just went, ‘f— off. You’re a food writer,’” he said. “‘All these excess calories are coming from booze.’”
When Parker Bowles said he only drinks three days a week, his doctor added that the amount of rosé he consumes is the equivalent to around 18 cheeseburgers.
“I became a food writer because I was sacked from pretty much any other job I ever did,” he wrote in a September 2024 story for You Magazine. “I could string a sentence together and eat. Twenty-five years on, I’m still here and still loving every moment. God I’m lucky, and I’ll never, ever grow bored of food. Although, as I get older, I crave simplicity more and more.”
After TLC singer T-Boz was hospitalized with an abdominal blockage in August 2024, fans began speculating that it was a result of her using Ozempic. The singer took to Instagram days later to quash the rumors.
“Everybody and every celeb ain’t on Ozempic,” she said. “The ignorance is disheartening to me because I would just pray for people or if I have nothing to say, I would just shut the hell up and say nothing at all but y’all don’t know how to f–king do that.”
T-Boz’s illness forced TLC to cancel shows in Syracuse, New York, and at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. The group posted a message via its Instagram Story saying her “severe abdominal blockage” was not caused by food poisoning and that she would remain in the hospital overnight under medical supervision.
The rapper slammed rumors that she used Ozempic to lose weight during an August 2024 X Spaces after fans commented on a recent picture of her slim figure.
“‘Cuz I was like, ‘Bitch, I wish y’all never learned the word Ozempic.’ That’s one thing I wish,” she said while addressing the comments on her post. “Oh, my God! Like, what even is Ozempic? What the f–k is that? Genuinely, what is that?”
Ice Spice shared that her weight loss came from working out and eating healthy.
“Like, you lazy bitches never heard of the gym? It’s called the gym, it’s called eating healthy, it’s called being on tour,” she continued. “Like, what the hell? Maybe if I was sitting home all f–king day, it’ll be easier to stay big.”
Moakler confirmed in June 2024 that she has been using Mounjaro, not Ozempic, to help with her weight loss journey. "I was in a very, very dark place. I stopped dieting. I stopped exercising. I just ate like s—t,” she told People of her health after losing her mom and dad within months of each other in 2023. “I was so devastated, and I missed my f—king mom and dad. I was like, 'I'm going to f—king eat the pain away."
After taking the Type 2 diabetes medicine, Moakler began to feel like herself again in 2024. "I don't think anyone has a clue about who I am," she said with a smile. "I'm more than just the ex-wife of famous men. I was Miss USA at 19. I'm smart. Every part I've ever got in any movie, or every show I hosted or auditioned for, I worked my f—king ass off to get.”
Moakler — who dated Oscar De La Hoya from 1997 to 2000 and was married to Travis Barker from 2004 to 2008 — revealed she’s happy again. “As I stand here today, as a mature woman who's gone through all that ... I do not give a f–k what anyone thinks of me anymore. I'm proud of who I am,” she added.
Four months after welcoming her first baby, Benson took to social media to shut down rumors she used Ozempic for her weight loss. “I know a lot of people taking Ozempic and it’s totally fine. To each their own,” she wrote via her Instagram Story in June 2024. “But don’t discredit people who also work very hard to get their body back like I’ve done with mine.”
The Pretty Little Liars actress explained that her career “forced” her to “focus on my health.” Benson, who gave birth to a baby girl in February 2024, noted that she uses the Melissa Wood-Tepperberg fitness app daily. “I wanted to feel confident and good about myself,” she added.
During a March 2024 interview with The New York Times Magazine, Winslet admitted she didn’t totally know what Ozempic was, saying, “All I know is that it’s some pill that people are taking or something like that.”
After learning that users inject themselves with the type 2 diabetes medication, she said, “Oh, my God. This sounds terrible! Let’s eat some more things!”
Osbourne called the Ozempic trend “amazing” while speaking to E! News in February 2024.
"There are a million ways to lose weight, why not do it through something that isn't as boring as working out?" she said. "People hate on it because they want to do it. And the people who hate on it the most are the people who are secretly doing it or pissed off that they can't afford it. Unfortunately, right now, it's something that is very expensive, but it eventually won't be because it actually works."
Morgan surprised fans in August 2023 when he revealed during a Today With Hoda and Jenna appearance that he was using Ozempic. “No, that’s Ozempic. That’s how this weight got lost,” he said when talking about his health journey. “I went and got a prescription and I got Ozempic. And I ain't letting it go!”
“Are you really on Ozempic?” Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager asked to which Morgan replied, “Yeah. I take Ozempic every Thursday. Cuts my appetite in half.” He then joked, “I only eat half a bag of Doritos!”
"I have had people ask me currently if I am on [Ozempic] and absolutely not. I wouldn't do it. It is not for me," the Vanderpump Rules star shared on her podcast in August 2023. "I have other friends who — I don't want to name names — who have made some jokes about it like, 'Well, after my next baby I will just get on Ozempic.' And I am like, 'I don't think that is what it's there for?'"
"I have pre-diabetes and diabetes in my family," the Raven’s House star told E! News in July 2023. "If I'm not careful with my intake with types of foods, I am more susceptible to getting diabetes. So, I think it's very important we understand certain medications are made for certain people — and to not take that away just for glamazon purposes."
Raven-Symoné explained that she was worried that celebrities’ — and other people’s — desire to slim down with Ozempic has led to a shortage of the drug. "Do what you gotta do, just make sure you save the medication for the people who actually need it,” she said.
In June 2023, the Vanderpump Rules alum revealed that she's interested in trying Ozempic after she welcomes her second child. "I really wanna try it when I give birth," she explained during an interview on Alex Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast. "The amount of times I've researched this ... like, I mean, I think it's safe and healthy." Jokingly, she added, "Like, I think it's good for you. It's like taking vitamins!"
Schroeder went on to quip that she doubts people who claim they don't wonder whether Ozempic would work for them. "Anyone who hears about Ozempic has to f–king be curious," the former Bravo personality said. "You are a liar if you tell me that you have not thought about it."
In June 2023, the RHOBH star shut down a Twitter user who wondered whether her "slimmed down" figure was the result of Ozempic.
"Don’t even start with that ozempic thing I’m not playing with that!!!" Beauvais responded to the fan's tweet.
"Like a year ago, I tried it. I was one of those people that felt so sick and couldn't play with my son. I was so skinny and he's throwing a ball at me and [I couldn't]," the comedian said during a June 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen. "And you're like, 'OK, this isn't livable for me.' But I immediately invested because I knew everyone was going to try it."
The Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles star revealed in June 2023 that she stopped taking Mounjaro because of side effects she experienced after about two months of using the medication. "The only thing I could not do was drink [alcohol], which [would make me] projectile vomit," Tutor said during an appearance on the "Jeff Lewis Has Issues" podcast. "Like, if I had more than two glasses of wine."
The real estate pro went on to claim that she once threw up in front of a client while on the medication. “I was shooting the show, actually, and we were shooting the finale, and I had taken the [Mounjaro] shot, like, maybe a week before,” she recalled. “One night we stayed in and we had dinner, and I had probably three glasses of wine, maybe smoked a little hooch after, went to bed, woke up, was unwell — like, so unwell. ... So, I’m, like, talking to a client, and she asked me a question, and I just cover my mouth, and I turn around, and it’s like … it was so intense."
The View cohost addressed rumors that she's been using Ozempic after sharing Instagram photos in May 2023 from a trip to Colombia. In a lengthy comment, she explained that she's lost "about 4-5 lbs a month" thanks to healthy tips she learned at a "wellness spa" the previous summer.
"I also sought professional help - nutritionist, medical supervision (I was on the verge of pre-diabetes), pilates coach (I joined a Pilates club in Miami and NYC), and pickleball coach (I try to play at least twice a week)," she added. "So it's been a complete lifestyle change -except for the damn rosé and margaritas, which I can't give up."
She continued: "I am not equipped to give anyone advice or endorse any solution. We all have to figure out what works for each us. It is a daily struggle for me. I still really like tequila and staying in bed with my poodle…🤷🏻♀️."
The Vanderpump Rules alum denied using Ozempic in May 2023 after an Instagram user asked whether she'd been taking the drug. "It’s actually the .5 zoom on the iPhone camera lol," Cartwright replied in a comment.
“I don’t want to try Ozempic because, honestly, I’ve heard about so many bad side effects,” the reality star said during an interview with the Daily Mail in May 2023. “It is using a drug that isn’t really prescribed to do that. They’re using a diabetic drug to take care of weight loss.”
In April 2023, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star — who is in recovery for bulimia — said that she's considered using Ozempic but ultimately decided it wouldn't be the right decision. "It’s not a good place for me, personally for my recovery," she told Page Six. "I’ve never judged or looked down on anyone that finds different avenues for [weight loss]. I would be lying if [I said] I haven’t thought about it. And then I have to check myself if that’s right for my recovery, and I’m in a very specific situation.”
During Molly Shannon’s April 2023 stint as Saturday Night Live host, she used her monologue to sing a rendition of Gypsy’s “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” — and ask the crowd what their own “problem” was. The camera quickly turned to Short, who stood beside executive producer Lorne Michaels, with a glass of champagne in hand.
“I ran out of Ozempic!” the Only Murders in the Building star quipped, throwing a tantrum and then shoveling a hamburger into his mouth. (Eating the hamburger seemingly served a spoof of the weight loss medication’s side effects when you stop taking the injections.)
During an April 2023 episode of his SiriusXM show Radio Andy, a viewer called out Cohen for "congratulating" guests on "looking so thin and asking if they are on Ozempic."
The Bravo host conceded that the viewer was "right" and admitted that he didn't always know how to address weight loss on the show. “I’m trying to deliver the goods for my audience watching,” he explained. "I mean, if Dolores shows up looking 15 pounds lighter, I gotta find out how it happened.”
The Missouri native also praised Catania for being honest about using the controversial weight loss method "because there are so many people who aren't."
The Skinnygirl founder slammed using the drug for weight loss in an April 2023 Instagram video.
"If someone is struggling with obesity and working with a doctor, that is one thing (and this is all new in this application) but thin rich country club cul de sac Americans, buying this online and at Mexican pharmacies is another thing," she wrote in the caption.
In the clip, Frankel warned her followers about the potential side effects of Ozempic and other similar medications. "I’m hearing stories about it affecting people’s personalities," she claimed. The New York native added that the full scope of the drug's adverse effects could years to come to light, comparing it to the opioid epidemic.
"Mark my words, we’re not going to hear about this s—tshow for months and years to come," she said. "It’s going to be a f—king s—tshow.”
In April 2023, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star confirmed she was taking Mounjaro for weight loss. “I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon,” she said during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.
Catania noted that the only side effect from the prescription medication was a lack of hunger. “The reunion is in two weeks. I do have a trainer," she clarified before noting that she wanted to "tell the truth" about her experience.
The Game of Thrones alum reposted an Instagram Story about a New York City subway advertisement for a company that sells Wegovy, a drug similar to Ozempic that is also used off-label for weight loss. "The ozempic ads plastered across the Times Square subway station can f–k all the way off," read the original post. Turner added the comment, "WTF."
On a March 2023 episode of Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star explained her "glow up" to the Bravo host.
"What am I on? Well, I did have a facelift. ... And a nose job!" she explained. "And I did lose a lot of weight. I took peptides, and I don't know if you've heard of medications associated with that that help people lose weight," she teased. After Cohen name-dropped Ozempic, Fessler responded, "You said it, I didn't. But … whatever works, here I am."
"All these people are coming for me saying that I take the weight loss things — people are saying that I'm taking Ozempic or whatever it's called," the model told Entertainment Tonight in March 2023. "I'm not and I've never have. I would never do that. There are diabetics that need it."
During a February 2023 episode of the Real Housewives of Miami, Nepola and Patton were seen taking injections and viewers thought it was potentially Ozempic. The Cuba native set the record straight that the duo were actually doing B-12 shots.
“It’s for energy, and it has, like, other nutrients,” the reality star explained to Page Six in March 2023. “The doctor had given it to Marysol because she felt weak and lethargic, and [it] maybe had to do something with her diet, but the B-12 always adds to anybody’s health.”
“I had to get a lot of steroid injections last year, which caused me to really pack on some weight. And I don’t know if it’s because I’m 41 years old or I’ve had a baby — whatever it is, I’ve been having a very, very, very hard time getting rid of that weight,” the Shahs of Sunset alum said via Instagram in February 2023. “I am on the weight-loss shots, honey, OK. I’m just not going to lie about it because I always keep it real about what is fake.”
Gharachedaghi noted she went from 137 pounds to 126 in four weeks.
“If you see people out there who just got skinny so fast all of a sudden and claimed they got healthy for the first time in their lives or that they got sober from alcohol that was causing them to gain so much weight … most likely, they’re just doing the shots,” she said. “We know who you are. We see how skinny y’all are getting. It’s not rocket science. Just saying.”
The political commentator said in February 2023 that friends had "urged" her to take Ozempic just weeks after giving birth to her second daughter, Clover. "It's horrifying, unfair and disturbing — and I refuse," she wrote in a column for the Daily Mail. "Our culture has made incredible strides towards body-type acceptance over the past few decades. And this celebration of Ozempic threatens all of that. I am realistic about how long it takes to have your body feel normal again post-baby. So, don't rush me!"
“I have taken at least eight family friends' parents off of this drug,” the former Biggest Loser coach told People in February 2023. “They [were] getting heart palpitations, they're nauseous, they feel like s—t. They feel so awful that it's motivated them to reverse their type 2 diabetes. Once they get off of the drug, it does the rebound effect. So you're not gaining anything.”
She added: “You get off the drug in a year and go all the way back. You've not learned anything. You've not built any physical strength or endurance. You haven't learned how to eat healthy. The truth of the matter is, Ozempic has some pretty significant side effects. Do your homework on it. The results are not lasting, in very large part.”
After being accused of using the diabetes medicine in January 2023, the Halloween actress set the record straight.
“I have never tried ozempic and this is not from plastic surgery,” she replied to one Instagram comment at the time. “I did have a breast reduction in May. I’m honest about what I do. But if giving plastic surgery the credit makes you feel better then pop off sister 😘.”
Richards also credited her body transformation to abstaining from alcohol for several months.
In February 2023, the former Chelsea host got candid about her past experience using Ozempic.
“So my anti-aging doctor just hands it out to anybody, right? Obviously, now I can’t say her name, but I didn’t even know I was on it,” she claimed to Alex Cooper, later explaining that her friend told her what the medication was after Handler was unsure about what she was taking.
“I’m not on it anymore. That’s too irresponsible,” she clarified. “I’m an irresponsible drug user, but I’m not gonna take a diabetic drug. I tried it, and I’m not gonna do that. That’s not for me. That’s not right for me.”
Speculation sparked that the Kardashians star was taking the diabetes drug after she shared photos of her abs from a January 2023 photoshoot for Sorbet magazine. Kardashian clapped back via social media and denied that she was using Ozempic.
“Let’s not discredit my years of working out. I get up 5 days a week at 6am to train. Please stop with your assumptions,” she responded. “I guess new year still means mean people.”
The A League of Our Own actress opened up about her holiday weight loss in a January 2023 TikTok. She shared with her followers that her doctor put her on a diabetes medication called Mounjaro and a cholesterol medicine called Repatha. O’Donnell, who is diabetic, made it clear she was not on Ozempic and not taking the medicine specifically for weight loss.
“And my appetite has decreased significantly, it’s probably the meds,” she recalled at the time. “And I’m trying to move more. So you know all those things combined, that’s what it is.”
The TikToker opened up about her doctor prescribing her Ozempic during a January 2023 appearance on the “Not Skinny But Not Fat” podcast.
"[My doctors] said I need this. And I had a lot of mixed feelings," Bader said after revealing she went on the medication because she was diagnosed as pre-diabetic in 2020. "A few months later I went off it and got into the bad binging."
She continued: "I saw a doctor and they were like, it's 100 percent because I went on Ozempic. It was making me think I wasn't hungry for so long, I lost some weight. I didn't wanna be obsessed with being on it long-term. I was like, I bet the second I got off I'm gonna get starving again. I did, and my binging got so much worse. So then I kind of blamed Ozempic. [I] gained double the weight back."
The Good Place alum got candid about her thoughts on people allegedly using Ozempic purely for weight loss.
"I have said what I have said about the potential harm of people using the diabetes medication for weight loss only. I fear for everyone in the next few years,” she wrote via Instagram in January 2023. “Rich people are buying this stuff off prescription for upwards of 1000 dollars. Actual diabetics are seeing shortages. It's a now mainstream craze in Hollywood. HOPE this doesn't end the same way we were told opioids were safe. There is little to no discussion of the side effects in any advertising online. I'm deeply concerned but I can't change any of your minds because fat phobia has our generation in a chokehold.”
Retired Green Beret David Harris rates portrayals of explosions in movies and TV shows.
He looks at how RPGs are employed in "Black Hawk Down," starring Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, and Eric Bana; "Tropic Thunder," starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black; and "White House Down," starring Jamie Foxx, Channing Tatum, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. He discusses the different ways to launch grenades in "Extraction II," starring Chris Hemsworth and Idris Elba; and "RRR," starring Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. He explains how landmines are activated in "Commando," starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; "Nobody," starring Bob Odenkirk, Christopher Lloyd, and RZA; and "Da 5 Bloods," starring Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. He answers whether you can stop a grenade by jumping on one in "Act of Valor." He talks about the effects of stun grenades in "The Town," starring Ben Affleck, Jeremy Renner, and Jon Hamm. Finally, he breaks down how airstrikes work in "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson, Sam Elliot, and Greg Kinnear.
David Harris served in the US Army for 20 years, including as a Special Forces weapons sergeant. He is the CEO of Harris Strategic Solutions, which provides tactical training to military and law enforcement members.
Find out more about David Harris and Harris Strategic Solutions here:
“I took, like, a little bit when it first came out, and everyone was doing it,” Nader, 27, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Bio.Me launch event on Tuesday, December 3. “It made me really nauseous. I liked it — I am not going to lie — and when I went on Dancing with the Stars, I could not do both.”
Nader found that she “lost a little bit of the motivation and the strength to work out” when she took Ozempic shots. (Ozempic, Wegovy and other similar semaglutides are commonly prescribed to individuals, who struggle with weight-related conditions. It is not advised for casual weight loss.)
“It was one or the other, and I picked dancing. I put the shot away,” Nader added.
Nader competed on season 33 of DWTS alongside pro partner Gleb Savchenko, which aired its finale late last month. Nader and Savchenko, 41, were eliminated from the competition in October.
Brooks Nader and Gleb Savchenko
Nader’s Ozempic use was initially discussed in a recent TikTok video where Nader’s sisters called her out for dropping 20 pounds on Ozempic. The model succinctly replied, “Don’t, Don’t!” in the clip.
“Those little brats. I was like, ‘Are you enjoying this?’” Nader quipped to Us about the viral remark. “I can’t get away with anything around them. … They run around the house and they just rat me out on everything. If you want anything ask them, they will tell you all my secrets.”
“I lost a lot of weight, like, especially towards the end,” Nader said. “I lost, like, 10 or 15 pounds. I kind of loved it, but also I would be like, ‘I wasn’t toned.’ It’s a thing and then I got really, really toned because … it’s, like, subconscious; you’re dancing six hours a day and then, when you finally get a moment to look in the mirror, you’re like, ‘Oh, wait a minute, OK. This is paying off in more ways than one, so I loved that aspect.’”
After her elimination from the ballroom competition, Nader was worried about the toll it would take on her newly toned body.
“My first thought was ‘Oh s—. What is going to happen to my body?’” Nader told Us on Tuesday. “I was nervous if I was gaining weight or not even gaining weight [and] just, like, not being toned.”
Brooks Nader in the LDMA Winter 2025.
Nader did end up gaining a “little weight” back, which she notes “is fine.”
As a model, Nader is used to staying in tune with her physical health so a partnership with Bio.Me makes sense. The company recently released a new collection of Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors (chocolate and chai). Nader uses them daily, putting them in iced coffee and morning smoothies.
“I’ve tried so many different probiotics and things that are supposed to help you with your gut health, being a model and traveling a lot and trying to stay in shape, I’ve tried it all — and this one actually works,” Nader told Us. “It also is tasty, and it’s not a hassle to take. You’re not taking a bunch of supplements. It’s really yummy and I love that about it.”
Brooks Nader celebrates the launch of bio.me’s new Daily Prebiotic Fiber flavors at Little Lunch in Venice on December 3rd.
She added, “I know it’s cute, it is so chic. It looks very medical, like, we’re doing something really good. … [It] helps keep you regulated, it is very good for cleansing and I really enjoy it.”
Nader also can appreciate that taking the Bio.Me supplements directly affects her mental health.
“I only learned recently that your gut health and mental health are directly related and correlated, which is crazy, and obviously, mental health is super important,” Nader explained to Us. “I feel, like, when we think of gut health, we just think of trying to look skinny or being in shape or whatever. It’s so much deeper than that because everything is rooted in your mental health.”
The pregnant wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes worked out in a cheetah print one-piece while showing off her baby bump on Tuesday, December 3. “Back injury who?!” her personal trainer, Kirsty Rae, captioned an Instagram video of Brittany’s fitness routine.
“We workin,” Brittany, 29, wrote when reposting the video on her own social media page.
She and Patrick, 29, announced in July that they were gearing up to welcome baby No. 3. “Round three, here we come,” the couple announced in an Instagram post at the time.
Brittany and Patrick tied the knot in March 2022, two years after he proposed. The pair are already parents to daughter Sterling, 3, and son Bronze, 2, who also appeared in Brittany and Patrick’s pregnancy announcement.
The expectant mom has been showing off her pregnancy style while supporting her husband at Chiefs games, and has offered an inside look at her prepartum workouts via social.
“Many women experience what’s called ‘mom butt’ during and after pregnancy, which happens when the glutes lose shape and muscle mass,” Rae captioned a social media in late October. “This is often due to changes in posture and how we move as our bodies adjust to pregnancy.”
In the Instagram video, Brittany could be seen working out to avoid this particular phenomenon.
“By focusing on glute engagement and maintaining strength training, you can actually continue to build muscle,” the personal trainer added. “It’s all about proper movement, posture, and progressive overload.”
Even though it seems like Brittany is slaying pregnancy this time around, don’t expect her and Patrick to expand their brood any further.
“I’m done, I’ll say that,” the NFL star told reporters during Chiefs training camp in July. “I said three and I’m done.”
Patrick also extolled the joys of being a young father.
“It’s awesome … I always wanted to have kids young,” he continued. “I got to grow up in a locker room and it made such an impact in my life. We’re on our third kid now … Brittany does a great job of doing that and we still go out and enjoy our life.”
Aside from discussing fatherhood, Patrick has also gushed over his sweet relationship with Brittany.
“When you get to come home and your best friend’s there and you can just hang out, it makes you want to be there all the time,” he said on the “Impaulsive” podcast in May. “She pushes me to be great and she’s done a lot of great things herself.”
Valerie Bertinelli is feeling proud of her body and she wants the world to know it.
Bertinelli, 64, took to social media on Tuesday, December 3, to share a mirror selfie of her bikini-clad frame. Looking toned in a black and white bikini as she offered a slight smile at the camera, the Food Network alum snapped the Instagram shot right before attempting to color her roots.
“At some point I will talk about the madness my body has been through this year,” she captioned the candid image. “But right now every lump bump wrinkle and saggy part of me just feels acceptance and simple appreciation to be standing in front of a mirror in a hotel bathroom in downtown Manhattan ready to color my roots late on a Monday night.”
The post arrived just days after the celebrity chef shared via Instagram Stories that she had taken a fall and injured her knee. “I continue to have the knees of a 9 year old because I fall far too often than what is comfortable for someone my actual age,” Bertinelli captioned her Friday, November 29, post.
Bertinelli has documented many significant musings this past year as well as serious health updates including her struggles with anxiety.
On Sunday, November 17, Bertinelli uploaded a clip of her hand shaking, accompanying the video with a brave explanation. “So I don’t know if you can tell from this video (and my heart is still beating a little rapidly as I write this) I had a really bad anxiety attack today. I haven’t had one like this in a very, very long time,” she captioned the video. “A few hours ago, I was weeping uncontrollably, and my heart felt like it was pounding out of my chest. I couldn’t stop shaking.”
Bertinelli continued, “I want to share it because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one out here who has experienced this. Gratefully these attacks have become much more infrequent, so this one took me a little bit by surprise today. This is the after effect. As I’m going through the actual attack (lol attack is such an appropriate word. My body and my mind feels like it’s actually under attack ).”
She added that her brain was “overthinking and catastrophizing” during these attacks, which makes her body go “into overdrive,” noting that she has “no control.”
Less than one month prior, Bertinelli also shared a dramatic injury on her arm, labeling herself a klutz in the photo’s Instagram caption. “I would ask for hazard pay, but it was my own damn fault,” she wrote to accompany the October 30 post. “I’ve been working on a really fun new project that I can’t wait to tell you about and this is what happens when you literally trip over the corner of a stage and fall on your ass in front of the crew. And the whole audience.”
