Sharon Osbourne is no stranger to opening up about her struggles with body image. But in a recent TV appearance, she revealed she didn't 'want to go this thin' after using the controversial drug Ozempic to lose weight.
Sharon appeared on Talk TV with PiersMorgan alongside her husband, Ozzy, 74, and their two children Kelly, 38, and Jack, 37. Addressing her noticeable weight loss, Sharon, 70, said 'It’s just time to stop, I didn’t actually want to go this thin, but it just happened’ continuing ‘I’ll probably put it all on again soon!’
Ozempic - which is offered as a treatment for people with type 2 diabetes - has become embroiled in controversy as more people use it as a quick fix for weight loss. It has risen in popularity in Hollywood, with celebrities such as Elon Musk and Amy Schumer admitting to taking the drug. In June, Sharon, 70, told E! News that she lost 30 pounds using Ozempic.
'It is a mental problem. It really is, apart from, you know, when children grow up in a household where they live off chips and pies. But I took [the injection]. I took it for four months and I lost 30 pounds, but like everything, there’s always no quick recipe I was very sick for a couple of months,' she said, continuing 'The first couple of months, I just felt nauseous. Every day I felt nauseous, my stomach was upset, whatever. But listen, I took it for four months, I lost 30 pounds. I’ve just shoved two chips in my mouth, while we had the break, and I eat normally now, and I haven’t put on a pound. Nothing.'
Sharon has spoken candidly about battling with her body image in past interviews. In 2020, she recalled one moment when she locked herself in the bathroom and refused to leave until she accepted the way she looked. 'There was a point in my forties when I went into the bathroom with a bottle of wine, locked the door, and said: "I won’t get out until I can fully accept my body,"' she told Vogue Germany. 'I started to cry at the sight of my slightly aging body and face in the magnifying mirror.' In 1999, she shed [a reported 125 pounds]{href='https://www.cbsnews.com/news/osbourne-wants-gastric-band-removed/' target='_blank' rel='noreferrer noopener'} after undergoing gastric band surgery, which she had removed in 2006.
She caused controversy in 2020, after Adele shared a picture on Instagram where she looked noticeably slimmer. Speaking on The Talk, she celebrated the singer's weight loss, adding that she does not believe 'really big women' are 'really happy' in their bodies. 'When really big women say they’re really happy in their body, I don’t believe them,' she said. 'Because I was really, really big and I wasn’t happy. Sure, on the surface, ‘Ha, ha,’ but at night, in bed alone, I was very unhappy.'
At the time, social media users were quick to respond to Sharon's comments. One X user wrote 'If somebody makes a personal choice to alter their appearance in some way to realize their own perception of beauty for themselves, that is nothing but laudable. But stereotyping plus-size women as perpetually unhappy in their bodies is wrong and harmful.'
In 2012, she revealed she had lost 28 pounds on the Atkins diet - a plan which restricts carbs while focusing on protein and fats. 'I've struggled with my weight for my entire life. I've been fat and I've been thin. As you know, I got the lap-band and lost a ton of weight, but it made me so sick. That's why I had to remove it. But when I removed it, I gained about 45 pounds,' she told US Weekly. 'I wanted to be healthy and keep with my family. I want to be healthy and enjoy life.'