Celebrity
Oprah Winfrey isn’t ashamed of sharing her semaglutide journey. The 70-year-old is healthier than ever as she sheds weight and guilt.
Oprah Winfrey remained preoccupied with her weight for decades. Ever since the talk show legend entered the public eye in 1984, fans and critics have scrutinized her body’s highs and lows. Winfrey reached her heaviest, 237 pounds, in 1992. Four years prior, she’d lost 67 pounds utilizing a now-controversial liquid diet. As the diet industry has transformed, so has the now 70-year-old.
Perhaps the most exciting time in her weight loss journey is now. Winfrey started taking semaglutide, an antidiabetic and an anti-obesity medication, sometime in 2023. She began dropping noticeable pounds as she attended media events and TV productions. Currently, The Color Purple producer’s goal weight is 160 pounds, which she hopes to maintain long-term, reports Today.
Oprah acknowledged the “absolute miracle” of her heart still pumping in her seventies. She hopes to live a “more vital and vibrant life” since her pre-diabetes diagnosis in 2019, reports People. At that time, she joined Weight Watchers, eventually ascending to a director position as she lost 42 pounds and sent her blood pressure and blood sugar levels back to a normal range.
Winfrey continued her health journey, undergoing knee surgery in 2021 and incorporating more activity into her everyday life. She began recommending weight loss drugs to others before considering them herself. According to People, The Butler star‘s turning point occurred during her panel conversation, “The State of Weight,” where she heard from weight loss clinicians and experts. “I realized I’d been blaming myself all these years for being overweight, and I have a predisposition that no amount of willpower is going to control.”
Oprah continued, “Obesity is a disease. It’s not about willpower — it’s about the brain.” She began taking semaglutide, describing it as “relief, like redemption, like a gift, and not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.”
In February 2024, Winfrey exited her directorship on WeightWatchers’ board after nearly 10 years. Both sides explained that it was not a contentious departure. The TV producer donated all of her WeightWatchers stock to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
