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Many Bravo stars have sounded off on the Ozempic craze, with some denouncing the weight loss drug while others have admitted to using it to lose weight more quickly. “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Crystal Kung Minkoff, who’s been open in the past about her struggle with an eating disorder, admitted that she’d thought about taking the drug but decided against it.
“Of course, I’ve thought about it,” Kung Minkoff told Page Six. “From someone who has struggled [with an eating disorder] their whole life, I’ve always looked for things to fix it for me,” she said. “But it’s not a good place for me, personally for my recovery,” the Bravolebrity added.
“I would be lying if [I said] I haven’t thought about it,” she added. “And then I have to check myself if that’s right for my recovery and I’m in a very specific situation.” That said, she made clear that she’s not judging anyone that’s decided to take the drug for weight loss.
Ozempic is the brand name of a type 2 diabetes medication known as semaglutide, the FDA states, but its recent surge in popularity as a weight loss drug has led to a reported shortage of Ozempic, causing problems for those who take it for diabetes.
“From what I understand, there’s a shortage for people with diabetes in which case I think people should completely stop using it … for just vanity if that’s really the case,” Kung Minkoff added while speaking with Page Six. “That’s my issue with it. It’s really about making sure people who really need it first get it. Other than that, it’s really people’s decision. It can be private, it can be public, it’s on them.”
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Some Bravo Stars Have Said That They’re Taking a Form of Semaglutide, Including RHONJ Star Dolores Catania
A few Bravo stars have admitted to using Ozempic or another brand of the semaglutide, including “Shahs of Sunset” star Golnesa “GG” Garachedaghi and “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member Dolores Catania. Gharachedaghi posted a video of herself on her Instagram showing followers the process to inject herself. “I am on the weight-loss shots, honey, OK,” she revealed.
She said she was never going to lie about anything and wanted her followers to know the truth. The Bravo star said she’d been taking the drug for weight loss because she was struggling to get her weight down and had already lost 11 pounds in four weeks.
Catania also admitted to taking the drug while appearing on the April 4 episode of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.” She claimed that all of her co-stars were taking the drug as well and didn’t want to be the only one not on it when the season 13 reunion was filmed. “I wasn’t going to come to the reunion looking any bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon,” she said.
Bethenny Frankel & Jackie Goldschneider Have Issued Warnings About Taking Ozempic
Some Bravo stars have spoken out about the weight loss drug and said they were worried about the possible long-term effects of taking it for weight loss. Former RHONY star Bethenny Frankel said it could have “very scary” impacts in the future and reminded her of popular weight loss drugs like ephedra that were popular when she was younger and were later found to have damaging effects on people’s health.
“This Ozempic thing is gonna go f****** sideways,” she said in her video. She asked how anyone could know the long-term effects and warned, “Nobody gets out without paying the bill.”
Catania’s RHONJ co-star Jackie Goldschneider, who’s been open about her struggles with an eating disorder, told Page Six in February 2023 that she could talk about Ozempic all day and it got her “fired up.” She said she was “horrified” by celebrities using it without concern for repercussions or long-term effects.
“I’m not so much horrified by people wanting to lose weight,” she said at the time, but she was worried about what would happen when people stop taking Ozempic. “It’s just going to be a massive number of people who gain a huge amount of weight and suddenly don’t know what to do with themselves,” she explained, and that could lead to a lot of eating disorders.
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