‘Far too thin’ Sharon Osbourne’s weight battle after taking Ozempic. Friends tell KATIE HIND of fears it may have ruined her metabolism – and how what’s happened now has been a ‘hard lesson’

During a day of shopping at a chic fashion boutique in Beverly Hills two days ago, the surprise appearance of Sharon Osbourne caused new concerns among her fans.

Carrying a brown designer bag, she appeared very thin as she walked through the department store less than two miles from her Los Angeles home with a stern, unsmiling expression.

Today the Mail can reveal that it’s not just online observers who are concerned about her small stature: those close to her are also expressing fears for her health. Friends say that since she decided to take the weight-loss kick Ozempic last year – something Sharon has been very open about – she seems a shadow of her former self.

Although she was initially delighted with the results – she lost third place in just a few months – the 72-year-old mother of three now fears she has gone too far.

A standout element of her outfit choice was her cream-colored long-sleeved blouse, worn with a brown wool sweater tied loosely around her shoulders.

A friend of the music mogul tells me: ‘She covers her arms because they are so painfully thin and it actually makes her quite unhappy.’

She also thinks her face is ‘much too thin’, say those close to her.

Her husband Ozzy, the former Black Sabbath singer, who has Parkinson’s disease, has told friends that Sharon has been eating a lot of her favorite high-calorie foods – roasts, burgers and club sandwiches – in a bid to gain weight. Apparently she still enjoys her favorite drink: a glass of champagne.

Friends say Ozempic Sharon, pictured this year since she decided to take the slimming jab, looks like a shadow of her former self

The star at a charity event in 2022 before she started using Ozempic

Yet she has not regained any of the weight she lost during treatment with Ozempic, which she stopped in March. “Sharon has been having dinner – she and Ozzy have a chef who cooks them whatever they want,” said a friend. ‘She’s trying to get bigger but she’s finding it’s not working and it’s quite frustrating for her now. She knows how thin she looks and is eagerly trying to gain weight, but it just doesn’t work.’

When she took part in ITV reality show Celebrity Big Brother earlier this year, she was said to be ‘super paranoid’ about her tiny body and relieved the camera would add ‘a few pounds’.

Some close to Sharon are now wondering whether Ozempic might have done something long-term about her metabolism.

She decided to use the shot in early 2023 and was far from secretive about her decision. Last year she told US broadcaster Howard Stern: ‘It’s not a sin to use Ozempic if you have a weight problem, so why not talk about it?’

Sharon, a grandmother of five, revealed she spent months on the drug, in addition to watching her diet and exercise. Ozempic, alongside fellow semaglutide drug Wegovy, is licensed to treat type 2 diabetes in the US, but can be prescribed by doctors ‘off-label’ for weight management or purchased online.

But when Sharon started using it, says a friend of the star, she didn’t expect to look so slim.

“Sharon just didn’t think it would turn out this way. The people around her point out that there is no magic pill, that there is no such thing as a free lunch and Sharon knows that now.

“It’s been a hard lesson for her.”

In fact, Sharon has had such a difficult journey on Ozempic that she now believes it should not be given to young people or teenagers in case they become addicted to it. She believes it is potentially “very dangerous.”

While Sharon’s fans feared about her weight, there was also speculation after her shopping trip that she had undergone another facelift.

It’s believed the TV personality – mother to Aimee, 41, Kelly, 40, and Jack, 39 – has undergone four so far, with the first in 1987, another in 2002, a lower facelift in 2019 and the most recent in 2021. Her rep would not confirm whether or not she has recently gone under the knife, but friends say she has often been dissatisfied with her appearance at various points in her life.

Already a hugely successful music manager, Sharon was catapulted to greater fame in 2004 at the age of 52 on the ITV talent show X Factor. Since then, she has been surprisingly outspoken about embracing anti-aging treatments.

Last year she said: ‘I never really care what people say about the way I look because I know I paid a fortune to look attractive… I’ve never been a beauty. I have never been blessed like that.” It’s exactly the kind of robust, honest opinion for which Sharon Osbourne is known – and loved.

Her legions of fans hope she can get fit again soon.