Rosie O’Donnell: Mounjaro changed my life
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
US talk show host Rosie O’Donnell said “Mounjaro changed my life” after losing nearly 30kg on the weight-loss drug.
The 64-year-old, best known for hosting her eponymous daytime TV programme, also said she recently underwent a facelift because losing weight left her with “a lot of excess skin” which “made me look sad”.
In an interview with People magazine, the actress and comedian spoke candidly about her experience with the popular weight-loss drug.
“Mounjaro changed my life. I couldn’t even pronounce it at first,” O’Donnell said, when asked about how it helped with her nearly 30kg weight loss.
She said: “I started three years ago when I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I was stunned at how it quieted the food noise.
“I’ve had trouble with my weight my whole life. I know the shame and humiliation dealt to people who are overweight.”
O’Donnell said: “It’s very strange to just buy a pair of jeans that fit. When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn’t my set – it was, did I look fat?”
I feel much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality
The star also explained that her insecurities about her weight were fuelled by an experience on set filming 1992 hit film A League Of Their Own.
She told the magazine: “(Director) Penny Marshall didn’t help by saying, ‘Rosie, I want you to lose 20lbs’. I’m like, ‘You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?’
“When I look back, I go, ‘God, I wish I could have enjoyed the size I was’.
“I’m now at that same weight. But I feel much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality.”
Mounjaro is a once-weekly injectable prescription medication which is used to manage Type 2 diabetes or obesity as it helps users feel fuller for longer and reduces their appetite, according to the NHS.
It is among the weight-loss drugs to have hit the headlines in recent years, with O’Donnell among stars including Jeremy Clarkson, Dame Prue Leith and Sharon Osbourne to reveal they have taken the medication.
O’Donnell also opened up about undergoing a deep plane lower facelift, having previously admitted to the procedure in a post on Substack in May, in which she detailed her feelings of guilt and shame about it.
The Emmy-winner said: “I lost so much weight that I had a lot of excess skin (around my chin), and it made me look sad.
“I didn’t want my face to be frozen. I had to wrestle with myself because as a feminist I always felt this is the male gaze and not anything I believe in.”
O’Donnell explained that she initially reconsidered the procedure after her youngest child Clay told her “girls look up to you”.
She said: “I changed my mind for six months and then decided the real power of feminism (is) to decide what we want to do with our bodies and when.
“I didn’t make it public until everyone started saying, ‘You look so much better. What are you doing?’ I didn’t want to be one of those people who says, ‘Oh, nothing’.
“So why do I look like this? 90,000 dollars. I was worried about the cost. I don’t like to waste money. I would never spend that on a car.”
O’Donnell rose to fame after appearing on US talent show Star Search in the 1980s, and went on to host The Rosie O’Donnell Show from 1996 to 2002 – making her a household name in the country.
She later went on to co-host The View.
Throughout her almost five-decade career, O’Donnell has also appeared in many films such as Sleepless In Seattle, The Flintstones, Exit To Eden and Beautiful Girls.
