Celebs who have lost up to 60lbs thanks to game-changing weight loss drugs like Wegovy
Pioneering drugs that help shave off excess weight, including Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro, have taken the world, especially Hollywood, by storm.
Elon Musk has lost about 28 pounds on the “wonder weightless drug,” while NBA legend Charles Barkley revealed he’s lost 60 pounds.
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania recently shared that she started Mounjaro as a quick fix for this month’s reunion show.
An obsession with thinness and physical beauty is nothing new in the entertainment industry, but only a small number of celebrities have admitted to using the weekly injections.
While several others were eager to whip up widespread enthusiasm for what they believe is essentially an eating disorder in a syringe.
With countless celebrities like Chelsea Handler and Amy Schumer saying they only used the drugs temporarily, DailyMail.com looked to the public figures who have openly embraced them.
Shahs of Sunset alum Golnesa ‘GG’ Gharachedaghi: Lost 30 pounds
GG started using Ozempic in February and revealed it to her fans on Instagram. Here she holds the injection. In April, she shared a photo of herself after she lost 30 pounds
GG, 41, told her fans in February this year that she had started using Ozempic, also known as the generic semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Wegovy.
She had initially opted to take the weekly injectable drug to lose a stubborn 11 pounds. A series of steroid injections she had to take for her health caused her to pack on some extra weight that was “very, very, very hard to get rid of.”
But semaglutide, combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise, results in drastic weight loss. GG started taking the drug on Feb. 5, when she weighed 137 pounds, adding that she had “never” considered over 121 pounds in her life.
About three weeks later, she recorded that she had lost that 11 pounds. In May, she said she lost significantly more weight — nearly 30 lbs.
GG told Entertainment Tonight last month: “I see no reason to hide the fact that I’m losing weight [medication] or a cosmetic procedure, just talk about it because there are so many people who want to do the same thing or they want to learn what you did.
‘Of course I didn’t look like that two months ago. So all of a sudden, to lose almost 30 pounds, I’d be a liar if I said I stopped drinking alcohol and you know I suddenly started working out, as some people like to say.”
Revealing her own experience with Ozempic, GG criticized fellow public figures for denying taking the expensive medication.
She said, “I’m not sure why so many people deny taking the injections. You can rate in the comments below. But those who want to try this should call my doctor.”
Tech tycoon Elon Musk: Lost 30 pounds
Tech tycoon Elon Musk has lost about 30 pounds using weight loss injectables
Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, 51, said last year that his secret to achieving a “fit, ripped and healthy” body is fasting, adding in a subsequent Tweet: “And Wegovy.”
Wegovy is almost the same as Ozempic, but it was explicitly approved for the treatment of overweight and obesity, while Ozempic was initially approved to help treat type 2 diabetes.
Before Wegovy’s approval, doctors in the US handed out prescriptions for Ozempic “off label” for about a thousand dollars a pop.
Mr. Musk has not consistently said whether the medication he was taking was Wegovy or Ozempic brand, but both drugs can cause significant weight loss and a reduction in body fat.
He said in October that he lost nearly 30 pounds with the help of the medication, in combination with fasting and “unpleasant eating.”
NBA Star Charles Barkley: Lost 60 Pounds
Basketball legend Charles Barkley has lost more than 60 pounds on Mounjaro, a Wegovy competitor
Barkley, 60, an NBA legend and Hall of Famer, said he lost more than 60 pounds in six months after taking semaglutide competitor tirzepatide, also known as Mounjaro.
The drug works by binding to receptors for two appetite-regulating hormones – GLP-1 and GIP – which send signals to the brain that the body is full.
It also slows down the stomach’s ability to clear food, in part by reducing the amount of acid produced by the stomach, which helps people feel fuller for longer.
It differs from semaglutide, although it has similar effects.
While tirzepatide mimics the effects of two hormones, semaglutide only copies one – GLP-1.
Mr Barkley first disclosed in May that he was using the injectable, along with maintaining a healthy diet and exercise.
Mounjaro helped him shave off 62 pounds after shrinking from 352 to 290 pounds.
Barkley said on Pat McAfee’s show that the medication has revived him: “I’m starting to feel like a human being, not a fat ass anymore.
“My doctor told me, she says, that there are a lot of fat young people. There aren’t many fat old people, they’re all dead.’
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania: Lost 20 Pounds
Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania said she started taking an injectable weight loss drug ahead of her reality show’s reunion episode with other cast members
The reality star told Bravo superstar Andy Cohen earlier this month that she had started taking Mounjaro ahead of the show’s reunion with Mr Cohen.
Ms Catania, 52, told Andy Cohen: “I wasn’t about to come to the reunion and look bigger than anyone, so I got on the bandwagon.”
She added that “not one” of her co-stars isn’t also taking a weight-loss drug.
After the Watch What Happens Live episode where Ms. Catania revealed to Cohen that she was a devoted Mounjaro user, Mr. Cohen received a flood of comments for praising the housewives for their noticeable weight loss.
In response to the criticism, Mr. Cohen simply said that his job is to lead the women to the truth: “I’m trying to deliver the goods for my watching audience… I mean, if Dolores shows up looking 30 pounds lighter “I need to find out how it happened.”
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs: Lost 20 pounds
Real Housewives of New Jersey star Margaret Josephs has lost more than 20 pounds but did not specify what medications she was on
Another Real Housewives of New Jersey star, Margaret Josephs, has also admitted to taking an unspecified weight loss drug over the past year to help her lose 22 pounds.
Josephs, 56, unashamedly admitted in March that she was undergoing weekly GLP-1 agonist injections, the same class of drugs as Ozempic and Wegovy.
But she did not specify which of those drugs she was taking.
Mrs Josephs told Insider in April: ‘I take them as a shot once a week, and that helps you lose weight and improve your metabolism.
“Everyone says, ‘Marge, you look great,’ even though some of my costars think some of my weight loss isn’t a good idea.” But I think it’s ridiculous. I think it’s what works for me.’
Josephs, who admitted she had lost 22 pounds since starting treatment, also said she had never been healthier in her life.
“I went to my regular doctor. They said, ‘This is the best thing your blood work has ever seen!” I got the highest rate on my life insurance policy. It’s really been incredible.’
Model Remi Bader
Model and TikTok star Remi Bader is pictured at the 2023 Oscars in Los Angeles, California
Plus-size model and TikTok star Remi Bader, 27, also revealed she was taking Ozempic, after being given the drug when her doctor discovered she was pre-diabetic, meaning her blood sugar was higher than normal, although not as high as to qualify for type 2 diabetes.
Ms Bader said she lost some weight while taking the drug but later regained it all.
She added that when she stopped taking the drug, she regained her lost weight and then some.
Medical experts and users alike worry that stopping the drug will cause the pounds to come right back on.