For large swathes of his career, James Corden has used his body as a vehicle for comedy. Whether in his role as Smithy in Gavin and Stacey, Timms in the West End production of The History Boys, or slightly more explicitly, as Jamie in Fat Friends.
Recently, however, James admitted to using the cult weight loss drug, Ozempic. The medication is lauded for making users feel full and interacting with the body’s hormones to slow down digestion. However, as James testifies, it's not always that straightforward.
In a segment for his Sirius XM radio show, James said, ‘I tried Ozempic, and it won’t be surprising to you when you look at me now, that it didn’t really work.
‘I tried it for a bit and then what I realised was I like, “Oh no, nothing about my eating has anything to do with being hungry.” All it does is make you feel not hungry. But I am very rarely eating [just because I’m hungry].’
The former The Late Late Show host later joked, ‘You are looking at someone who’s eaten a king size, and when I say king size Dairy Milk – one you give someone for Christmas – in a carwash. None of that was like, oh, I’m so hungry. It is not that, it’s something else.’
He has previously spoken about being bullied because of his weight at school and says he learnt to develop a ‘faux confidence’. Speaking to the US news show 60 Minutes he said, ‘I don’t look back at my time at school. I was bullied because of my size, [and] in truth that’s probably where all that faux confidence comes from.
‘It was all a defence mechanism of like, well, I’ll be the biggest target in the room. Bullies don’t like that. Confidence is like kryptonite to bullies.’
Three years ago, James signed a multi-million-pound deal to be the face of Weight Watchers, crediting them for helping him lose two stone. However, he ended his partnership with the organisation last year to try Ozempic instead.
He joins a number of celebrities who have admitted to taking Ozempic, including Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk and Rebel Wilson, Kelly Clarkson, Kelly Osbourne and Stephen Fry. The latter was an early adopter of the drug and said he was ‘throwing up five times a day’ when he tried it. Stephen has warned fellow stars off the drug and stopped taking Ozempic after finding it made him ‘sicker and sicker’.
Kelly, on the other hand, suggested critics were jealous that they ‘couldn’t afford’ to try the drug themselves. She said, ‘I think it’s amazing. There are a million ways to lose weight, why not do it through something that isn’t as boring as working out?’ Later adding, ‘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.’
The injectable drug remains controversial as a weight-loss tool because it can lead to nausea, kidney problems, pancreatitis, swelling and gallbladder problems, among other potential side effects. It is primarily used to treat people with type 2 diabetes and to help lower blood sugar levels. Many users, like James, do not find it to be effective for weight loss.
As well as his Sirius XM radio show, This Life of Mine with James Corden, where he discussed his recent dalliance with the drug, James is currently working on the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special with his co-creator Ruth Jones and co-stars Matthew Horne, Joanna Page and Rob Brydon. The special will be the last ever instalment of the award-winning comedy.
James stepped back from his hosting duties on The Late Late Show in the US last year and has returned to the UK with his wife Julia Carey and their three children.
Nikki Peach is news and entertainment writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and current affairs. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).