Rosie O’Donnell has revealed how she has managed to lose a substantial amount of weight.
In a new interview with PEOPLE, the former talk show host says she lost nearly 60 lbs. with the hormone GLP-1.
“Mounjaro changed my life,” she told the magazine. “I couldn’t even pronounce it at first. I started three years ago when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was stunned at how it quieted the food noise. I’ve had trouble with my weight my whole life. I know the shame and humiliation dealt to people who are overweight. My kids would come home from trick-or-treating with pillowcases full of candy and hide it. Smart children. I’d wake up at 3 in the morning and go, ‘There’s a Nestlé’s Crunch bar somewhere.’ I couldn’t help myself.”
She explained all of the ways life is different now that she’s dropped the weight: “It’s very strange to just buy a pair of jeans that fit. When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn’t my set—it was, did I look fat? On League of Their Own, [director] Penny Marshall didn’t help by saying, ‘Rosie, I want you to lose 20 lbs.’ I’m like, ‘You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?’ When I look back, I go, ‘God, I wish I could have enjoyed the size I was.’ I’m now at that same weight. But I feel much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality.”
She also opened up about getting a deep plane facelift. “I lost so much weight that I had a lot of excess skin here [pointing to her chin], and it made me look sad,” she said. People in Ireland said, ‘Rosie, are you all right, love?’ I’m like, ‘It’s my face. I actually feel happy here.’ I didn’t want my face to be frozen. I had to wrestle with myself because as a feminist I always felt this is the male gaze and not anything I believe in. [her child] Clay said, ‘Mommy, girls look up to you. What does your legacy stand for if you do this?’ I changed my mind for six months and then decided the real power of feminism [is] to decide what we want to do with our bodies and when.”
She discussed why she’s decided to tell the public about the changes with her body.
She told the publication: “I didn’t make it public until everyone started saying, ‘You look so much better. What are you doing?’ I didn’t want to be one of those people who says, ‘Oh, nothing.’ So why do I look like this? $90,000. I was worried about the cost. I don’t like to waste money. I would never spend that on a car.
She also discussed maintaining a close relationship with singer Madonna.
“We text, and I go to her house, and we talk about the kids. She ran a very tight ship. I had a very not tight ship. Her kids Lola and Rocco would come over for a playdate, and I’d give them an ice pop, and turn on the cartoons,” O’Donnell said.
