Rosie O’Donnell’s appearance has changed significantly, and her weight-loss journey has been well documented. She has lost over 65 pounds since taking Mounjaro, after she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2022. However, the actress made a vulnerable admission during an appearance on Amy Poehler’s Good Hang podcast, revealing that the sudden, dramatic weight loss initially raised concern.
Rosie O’Donnell Reflects on How She Thought She Had Cancer
O’Donnell lost 12 pounds within the first three weeks of taking the weight-loss medication, but this made her concerned about her health. “So they said, ‘You have diabetes. Can you take a shot?’ I said, ‘I think so. I don’t know. I’ve never done a shot. Is it insulin? [I knew about that] because of my uncles and stuff. And they said, ‘No, it’s this new drug and it really helps with your blood sugar.’ Never mentioned weight loss,’” she said. “Never said anything because it was my numbers they were trying to get down.”
After taking the weight loss medication, she realized it significantly impacted her appetite, and she was unable to eat anything during a trip to Nobu for her son’s engagement celebration. “I think to myself, I’m so overwhelmed emotionally by missing my mom and wishing she could have seen and known him and that he got engaged and a brand new start in his life. And I was full of emotion, and so I thought that’s what it was,” she said.
She continued, “Cut to two weeks later, I get on the scale. I call my doctor crying. I must have cancer. I’ve lost 12 pounds, and I haven’t done anything. It’s been three weeks since I started that medicine.”
Despite the initial shock, O’Donnell is happy with her weight loss and the impact it has had on her health. She said she has “never felt better and it’s sad to me that it took me till I was 64 to get here.”
Rosie O’Donnell Discusses Weight Loss & Grief
One of the reasons fans love “The View” co-host so much is her willingness to speak so openly, including discussing tough subjects. When her mother, Roseann O’Donnell, died in 1973, she was 10. The loss deeply impacted her, but it also resulted in weight gain, People reports.
“My father would give us a one hundred dollar bill, and we would go to Foodtown to do the food shopping. Now if you’re 11-years-old and you’re shopping for a family of five, there’s nothing nutritious about it,” she reflected. “It was Entenmann’s and Cap’n Crunch, and we would always say, ‘Subtotal please,’ and when it got near one hundred, we’d put back the chicken and the hamburger meat. Everyone got heavy. Everyone was in such grief and trauma.”
Her decision to speak out about her weight loss medication has been deliberate. “I know some people are ashamed to talk about it, but I wanted to share how it helped me, and I don’t like secrets as a whole,” she said.
