America’s First Idol: A Liar?
After months of swallowing the truth, Kelly Clarkson’s secret is out. The slimmed-down singer-turned-TV host is taking weight-loss medication.
Now his legions of followers (and concerned public health experts) are wondering: Why didn’t he say that in the first place?
In January, Clarkson gave a long-awaited interview to People magazine amid speculation about her astonishing body transformation: She lost more than 60 pounds in a matter of months.
She told the celebrity magazine that her super-effective diet trick was simple: cut carbs, eat more protein, walk and, uh, infrared saunas and cold baths.
Clarkson, 42, surprised fans with her transformation, losing more than 60 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 television host, who has long spoken publicly about her difficulties maintaining a healthy weight, weighed 203 pounds at her peak.
Weeks later, Clarkson revealed that she had been diagnosed with prediabetes. Her body did not sufficiently regulate blood glucose (blood sugar) and she was at risk of developing diabetes, a condition that affects nearly 40 million Americans and can cause fatal damage to the heart and kidneys.
But in all of Clarkson’s public comments, the implication was: Weight-loss medications?!? Never, not me.
As a health editor, with almost a decade of experience, I had my suspicions.
Rapid and dramatic weight loss is very difficult for 42-year-old women with bodies that have given birth to two children, unless modern medicine helps tip the scales.
Lo and behold, my intuition was correct.
On Clarkson’s talk show Monday, she told guest Whoopi Goldberg that, on her doctor’s advice, she had started a course of weight-loss medication.
“My blood tests got a lot worse,” she confessed to Whoopi, who revealed that she is taking injectable medications to lose weight.
“Everyone thinks it’s Ozempic, but it’s not,” Clarkson said. “It’s something that helps break down sugar (in the blood), obviously my body doesn’t do that well.”
In fact, there are other medications in the same family as Ozempic that can lower blood sugar and cause weight loss by suppressing appetite. Patients with diabetes are prescribed a medication called metformin.
Then there’s the other inconsistency in Clarkson’s story: that she was happy 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 was injecting herself with a weight loss drug similar to Ozempic.
“I never had a problem shutting people down and saying, ‘yeah, you know, that’s exactly what I’m using,'” he said in a 2017 interview.
Now, we’re told his weight triggered his prediabetes. Nobody would be happy with that.
But why the sudden sincerity? Had Clarkson also drank truth serum?
Inside sources told DailyMail.com that Clarkson felt “cornered.”
“Kelly couldn’t keep up his charade any longer,” the source said. “She knew she had to be honest or she would be exposed.”
Perhaps Clarkson was also embarrassed by the fact that she was dependent on a medication that cost $1,000 a month without a prescription. The star also opened up about her struggle with depression, which comes with a litany of complications.
But whatever the truth, it seems Clarkson hasn’t been entirely forthcoming.
And she is not the first.
Clarkson, 40, recently admitted on her show to using medication to help lose weight during an interview with Whoopi Goldberg, 68.
Oprah Winfrey, a longtime yo-yo dieter, was met with outrage in December after she admitted to taking weight-loss medication, having dismissed the medication as “the easy way out” just three months earlier.
My celebrity insiders tell me that the secret use of injections is widespread among Hollywood royalty… but no one talks about it.
But Clarkson, Oprah and the others must recognize how dangerous their dissimulation can be to their fans.
When I was in my early 20s, I religiously followed nutrition advice from celebrities and wellness influencers.
I thought that if I did what they did, I would replicate their certificate of good health (and beauty).
Some claimed to have transformed their bodies with “simple” changes, such as replacing pizza dough with baked cauliflower and replacing eggs with the liquid from canned chickpeas.
Gwyneth Paltrow recommended swapping potato chips for almonds soaked in water for six hours.
I eliminated carbs, fats, and eventually everything non-vegetable, based on the advice of the gurus.
EVE SIMMONS: “As a former anorexia patient, I know how influential celebrity lies can be.”
Within six months, I had lost almost 20 percent of my body weight and was admitted to the hospital with critical anorexia. My heart was in danger of shutting down. During my six-week stay I regained my health.
Looking back, it’s no surprise that two of my beloved influencers admitted to suffering from eating disorders just a year later. The nutrition plans he had been following were written at the height of his mind-blowing illness.
Lying about taking a weight loss medication is not the same. But it fools devoted fans and impressionable women of all ages into thinking that dramatically losing weight is normal and easy.
Neither of them are true.
As they say, there are no shortcuts in life and even medication comes with dark disadvantages.
Clinical trials show that about half of weight-loss drug users experience at least one complication.
If you’re lucky, it will be nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. For the unlucky, it’s suicidal thoughts, thyroid cancer and gastroparesis, an agonizing and life-threatening condition in which the stomach becomes paralyzed.
Rapid weight loss (from Ozempic, bariatric surgery or starvation diets) causes loss of muscle mass. For adults 65 and older, that can increase the chance of falls that can be fatal.
And finally, it’s still unclear whether these medications help keep your weight off forever. Recent studies suggest that four years of injections result in a disappointing 10 percent weight loss.
So here’s my message to these suddenly shrinking celebrities: They chose a life in the spotlight, which comes with responsibility. Be honest about your health journeys because your fans are watching and probably taking notes.
