Oprah Winfrey opens up about recent weight loss

Oprah Winfrey has opened up about her recent weight loss after previously admitting she considered taking Ozempic.

The media mogul, 69, showed off her figure in a bright purple floor-length gown at the premiere of The Color Purple in Los Angeles. Winfrey accessorised her all-purple look with a glittery purple clutch and purple heels. While walking the red carpet, Winfrey – who serves as an executive producer for the movie musical remake – spoke about her weight loss transformation.

When asked by Entertainment Tonight how she achieved her physique, Winfrey revealed: “It’s not one thing, it’s everything.” The billionaire emphasised just how much work she’s put in to achieve her goals, adding: “I intend to keep it that way.”

Just before the movie premiere, which took place at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, Winfrey even shared that she had worked out that same day. “I was on that treadmill today,” she said.

Winfrey originally starred in the 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker’s epistolary novel of the same name, alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover. The new movie, which is set to hit theaters on 25 December, is also based on Walker’s book and is an adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway production – starring Danielle Brooks as Winfrey’s original character, Sofia.

Amid the rising popularity of type 2 diabetes medication Ozempic, a semaglutide injection known for its weight loss side effects, the former talk show host previously admitted she considered taking the once-weekly drug to lose weight. However, she ultimately felt that it would be an “easy way out”.

Winfrey hosted a panel for Oprah Daily in September, titled “The Life You Want Class: The State of Weight”. She discussed the ongoing obesity and weight crisis with obesity specialists Dr Fatima Cody Stanford and Dr Melanie Jay; psychologist Dr Rachel Goldman; and Sima Sistani, the CEO of WeightWatchers. During the panel, she addressed the ongoing Hollywood craze with Ozempic, as many fellow celebrities have revealed they’re taking the FDA-approved prescription.

“Shouldn’t we all just be more accepting of whatever body you choose to be in? That should be your choice,” Winfrey said. “Even when I first started hearing about the weight loss drugs, at the same time I was going through knee surgery, and I felt: ‘I’ve got to do this on my own.’ Because if I take the drug, that’s the easy way out.’”

As someone who was “shamed in the tabloids every week about for 25 years” for “not having the willpower” to work on her weight, Winfrey said it was demoralising to see Ozempic become so popular. Dr Stanford responded by saying that because “obesity is a chronic disease,” she doesn’t use the word “willpower” when it comes to her patients’ weight loss journeys.

“It’s hard to see you ostracised in the way that you’ve been. Because this isn’t about willpower. It’s not your fault,” she told Winfrey. “It’s how our bodies regulate weight and each of us is different, each of us is unique, not one is superior to another. We’re just different and acting on those differences and treating the differences in the heterogeneity of the population is how we’re going to actually make change in this disease.”