America’s First Idol – A Liar?
After months of swallowing the truth, Kelly Clarkson’s secret comes to light. The slimmed-down singer turned TV presenter is taking weight loss medications.
Now her legions of fans — and concerned public health experts — are wondering: Why didn’t she just say so?
In January, Clarkson gave a long-awaited interview to People magazine, as speculation swirled about her staggering body transformation – which saw her lose more than 50 pounds in just a few months.
She told the celebrity magazine that her super-effective diet hack was simple: eating fewer carbs, more protein, walking and – uh – infrared saunas and cold plunges.
Clarkson, 42, shocked fans with her transformation, losing more than 50 pounds over the course of a few months, which she initially said had a lot to do with “moving to New York,” which increased her step count.
The TV host, who has long spoken publicly about her struggles to maintain a healthy weight, weighed 203 pounds at her heaviest.
Weeks later, Clarkson revealed that she had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Her body did not adequately regulate blood glucose (blood sugar) levels and she was at risk of developing diabetes – a condition that affects nearly 40 million Americans and can lead to fatal heart and kidney damage.
But in all of Clarkson’s public comments, the implication was: weight loss drugs?!? Never, not me.
As a health editor with nearly a decade of experience, I had my suspicions.
Rapid, dramatic weight loss is very difficult for 42-year-old women with bodies that have produced two children – unless modern medicine tips the balance.
Low and behold, my intuition was spot on.
On Monday, Clarkson told her guest Whoopi Goldberg on Clarkson’s talk show that she had started a course of weight-loss medications on the advice of her doctor.
“My blood counts have gotten so bad,” she admitted to Whoopi, who revealed that she takes injectable medications to lose weight.
“Everyone thinks it’s Ozempic, but it’s not,” Clarkson said. ‘It’s something that helps break down the [blood] sugar, my body is clearly not doing well.’
Indeed, there are other drugs in the same family as Ozempic that can lower blood sugar levels and cause weight loss by suppressing appetite. A drug called metformin is prescribed to diabetic patients.
Then there’s the other inconsistency in Clarkson’s story: that she was happy with being overweight.
Oprah, 70, (seen last year and in 1992), has also lost a fortune in weight in recent years, which she initially said was due to diet. After much speculation, she admitted that she injected a weight loss drug similar to Ozempic
“I’ve never had a problem with shutting people down and saying, ‘Yeah, you know, that’s exactly what I rock,’” she said in a 2017 interview.
Now we’re told her weight caused her pre-diabetes. Nobody would be happy about that.
But why this sudden sincerity? Had Clarkson also absorbed truth serum?
Insiders told DailyMail.com that Clarkson felt ‘backed into a corner’.
“Kelly couldn’t keep up her charade any longer,” the source said. “She knew she had to be honest or she would be exposed.”
Perhaps Clarkson was also ashamed of the fact that she was dependent on a drug that cost $1,000 a month without a prescription. The star has also spoken about her battle with depression – which comes with a litany of complications.
But whatever the truth, it appears Clarkson hasn’t been entirely forthcoming.
And she’s not the first.
Clarkson, 40, recently admitted to taking weight loss medications on her show during an interview with Whoopi Goldberg, 68.
Longtime yo-yo dieter Oprah Winfrey was met with outrage in December after admitting to taking weight-loss drugs after dismissing the drug as “the easy way out” just three months earlier.
My celebrity insiders tell me that secretive use of the shots is widespread among Hollywood royalty… but no one is talking about it.
But Clarkson, Oprah and the others must realize how dangerous their hypocrisy can be to their admirers.
In my early twenties, I religiously followed the nutritional advice of wellness influencers and celebrities.
I thought if I did what they did, I would replicate their clean bill of health (and beauty).
Some claimed to have transformed their bodies with “simple” actions, such as replacing pizza dough with fried cauliflower and substituting eggs for the liquid in canned chickpeas.
Gwyneth Paltrow recommended replacing chips with almonds that had been soaked in water for six hours.
I cut out the carbs, the fat, and eventually anything that wasn’t a vegetable, as per the gurus’ advice.
EVE SIMMONS: ‘As a former anorexic, I know how influential celebrity lies can be.’
Within six months I had lost almost 20 percent of my body weight and was hospitalized with severe anorexia. My heart threatened to stop. During my six-week stay I regained my health.
Looking back now, it’s no surprise that two of my beloved influencers admitted to suffering from an eating disorder just a year later. The nutritional plans I followed were written at the height of their mind-altering illness.
Lying about taking a weight loss drug is not the same. But it misleads devoted fans and impressionable women of all ages into thinking that dramatic weight loss is normal and easy.
Neither is true.
As they say, there are no shortcuts in life and they even involve medications dark disadvantages.
Clinical studies show that approximately half of weight loss drug users experience at least one complication.
If you’re lucky, it’s nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. For the unlucky, it’s thoughts of suicide, thyroid cancer and gastroparesis – a painful and potentially life-threatening condition that paralyzes the stomach.
Rapid weight loss – through Ozempic, bariatric surgery or starvation diets – causes muscle loss. For adults aged 65 or older, this can increase the risk of falls that can be fatal.
And finally, it is still not clear whether these medications ensure that the weight is maintained permanently. Recent studies suggest that four years of injections results in a disappointing 10 percent weight loss.
So here’s my message to these suddenly diminishing celebrities: You’ve chosen a life in the spotlight – with it comes responsibility. Be honest about your health journeys because your fans are watching – and probably taking notes.