Sharon Osbourne Talks Ozempic: "I Didn't Want To Go This Thin"

Celebrity weight loss is a topic that will always garner interest, and that holds especially true over the last year with the constant conversation surrounding Ozempic, a common Type 2 Diabetes treatment that’s gained traction for its ability to aid in weight loss. The injection, which was approved by the FDA in 2017 for the treatment of diabetes, works (as far as weight loss goes) by affecting the hunger signals in your brain and the rate in which your stomach empties. The latest celeb to make headlines for her drastic weight-loss through this method is none other than Sharon Osbourne, 70, who has publicly spoken about her Ozempic use — and who has a startling case of “Ozempic face” (more on that below).

Sharon side by site — Sharon Osbourne, Left: 2022, Right 2023Joce jfizzy/Bauer-Griffin/Katja Ogrin / Stringer/Getty

Sharon’s weight loss journey

Osbourne has faced challenges with weight gain/loss during her time in the spotlight. She famously spoke publicly about the gastric sleeve procedure she received in 1999, saying “‘I felt like such a cheat when I had that band on my stomach. It makes you vomit the whole time. Nothing goes down because it goes out.” She ultimately had the band removed in 2006.

Sharon and Ozzy in 1987 — Sharon Osbourne with Rock singer husband, Ozzy Osbourne, 1987

Sharon Osbourne (right) in 2010 with Ozzy Osbourne (middle) and Kelly Osbourne (left)Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images

In 2012, she told UsWeekly, “I’ve struggled with my weight for my entire life. I’ve been fat and I’ve been thin. As you know, I got the lap-band and lost a ton of weight, but it made me so sick. That’s why I had to remove it. But when I removed it, I gained about 45 pounds,” she said. “And as my 60th birthday was approaching, I didn’t want to be overweight. I wanted to be healthy and keep with my family. I want to be healthy and enjoy life.”

And that wasn’t the last time she was open about her journey toward body acceptance. In 2014, she admitted: “I’d be fibbing if I said I don’t cheat because I do cheat. I cheat a lot on my diet. We all do, but I don’t guilt myself out because the next day I’ll start with my Atkins breakfast sandwich and I’m right back on it.”

Sharon Osbourne at the Emmy's in 2014 — Sharon Osbourne at the Emmy’s in 2014Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Many of us can relate to the experience of packing on a few quarantine pounds, and the 70-year-old TV personality was no exception.

Sharon Osbourne walking next to Kelly Osbourne in NYC in 2019BG026/Bauer-Griffin/Getty Images

In 2020, she revealed on The Talk, “I’m, like, 10 pounds over from what I usually am.” She continued, “And 10 pounds is a lot when you’re, like, five-foot-one and a smidge.” However, she went on to explain that she was combatting this change with walking. “This is it now. I’ve got the bug. I’m on it,” she had said.

Sharon Osbourne on Ozempic

Since starting on the drug in the summer of 2023, Osbourne has revealed that she’s lost a total of 42 pounds. On an appearance alongside her family on Piers Morgan Uncensored on September 20, Sharon Osbourne said about Ozempic, “You can’t stay on it forever. I lost 42 pounds now and it’s just enough.” She continued, “I didn’t actually want to go this thin, but it just happened, and I’ll probably put it all on again soon.”

She continued to describe a series of side effects she’s experienced while taking the drug: “At first, I mean, you feel nauseous,” she said. “You don’t throw up physically, but you’ve got that feeling. It was about two, three weeks where I felt nauseous the whole time.” She went on to say, “You get very thirsty and you don’t want to eat. That’s it.”

On a recent episode of The Osbourne’s Podcast, she revealed that she goes three days without eating weekly — and while this could just be an exaggeration, it certainly sparked concern in the wake of her recent transformation.

In an interview with E! News in early September, Osbourne said: “I’m at the point of losing too much that I have to try and maintain.” She continued, “In my life, the heaviest I was 230 pounds and I’m now under a hundred. And I want to maintain at about 105 because I’m too skinny. But I’m trying to have a healthy balance.”

Why does Sharon Osbourne’s face look so different now?

The buzzy term — “Ozempic face” — was coined by New York dermatologist, Paul Jarrod Frank, MD, after treating many patients with this syndrome. It describes the gaunt or hollow look of sagging facial skin that can appear when people lose excess fat in their cheeks or neck, explains plastic surgeon Al Aly, MD. Massive weight loss (through medication or bariatric surgery) decreases the amount of fat under the skin throughout the body, but loose elastin fibers remain, often creating the appearance of excess skin hanging from the face and neck area, he explains. In older women, the result of sudden, rapid weight loss can be a hollowed-out, gaunt look and increase in wrinkles and creases.

(Click through to read how berberine — dubbed Nature’s Ozempic — can help you lose weight without the side effects.)

Ozempic in the public eye

A number of celebrities have come out and spoken about the drug, whether it be in support, against, or merely to share their own experience.

On the Ozempic website, in response to an FAQ regarding celebrity use for weight loss, the site states: “We cannot control which specific patients receive our prescription-only medicines. What we can do is ensure that we reinforce who our medicines are intended to treat, based on their medical trials and FDA-approved indications, in support of responsible use of these medicines.”