While Rosie O’Donnell, 63, made a name for herself as a Broadway star and host of the Emmy-winning talk show The Rosie O’Donnell Show, she’s recently been garnering attention for her weight loss. And the actress hasn’t been afraid to give fans a front-row seat to her health transformation. Here we break down what O’Donnell has said about her health struggles and weight loss, including what helped her finally “feel healthier.”
Mounjaro boosted Rosie O’Donnell’s weight loss
In a May 23 Instagram post, O’Donnell shared a picture of herself after losing weight with the caption “I can’t believe this is me now,” and the hashtags “#mounjaro #weightloss #bodydismorphia.”
One tool that has helped her in her journey? The GLP-1 drug Mounjaro. O’Donnell relocated from the U.S. to Ireland in January 2025, and in a TikTok video posted March 20, she talked more about how Mounjaro boosted her weight loss and what nutrition looks like for her and her youngest child, Clay, while living abroad.
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“I’ve lost more weight here,” the former The View cohost said. “I am on Mounjaro for my diabetes, and one of the side effects is you lose weight. But it’s also because I had a chef for over two years in Los Angeles, and I don’t have a chef now. It’s me cooking for Clay and me.”
She celebrated a weight-loss win while shopping
In the TikTok video, O’Donnell also talked about her experience shopping for clothes to fit her body post-weight loss.
“[I] went shopping today at a wonderful boutique in Dublin to get some clothes for myself that fit better,” O’Donnell said. “I’m one of those people who’s always had a weight issue, and now that I’m a size large instead of an XL or a 2XL, I find it… I find it shocking, you know. I really do. I find it completely shocking.”
“I’m telling you, I feel healthier.” —Rosie O’Donnell
When the store employee pulled some pants for her to try on, O’Donnell said she was worried about whether they would fit without an elastic waistband, which she had grown accustomed to wearing to accommodate her stomach.
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“They brought in some pants, and I didn’t look at the size, and I put them on, and then as we were leaving they said what the size would be comparable to in America and I didn’t really believe them,” said O’Donnell. “I didn’t really believe them. But I’m telling you, I feel healthier.”
O’Donnell changed her diet to support her weight loss
While O’Donnell is celebrating her new figure today, her weight-loss journey has been a long time in the making. In January 2023, O’Donnell posted a TikTok video to Instagram celebrating her weight loss progress. “I’m on my way to school to drop her off, and I needed to let you know I lost 10 pounds since Christmas. 10 pounds. I’m very happy,” said O’Donnell in the video.
A viewer responded asking how she did it, and O’Donnell created another TikTok video in response about her experience with weight-loss medication and nutrition.
“So, like two months ago, my doctor put me on, not Ozempic, Mounjaro…..and Repatha,” said O’Donnell. “One I do every other week, and one I do once a week. And that and at Christmas, I stopped drinking anything except water. Now, I have had champagne one night, that was a toast, and some wine one night. So it hasn’t been 100 percent, but I really stopped drinking, like five or six Diet Cokes a day. All I drink is water now.”
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But that wasn’t the only change she made during her health journey. “I’m not eating sugar as much as I can, and my appetite has decreased significantly,” O’Donnell continued in the video. “It’s probably the meds, and I’m trying to move more. So, you know, all those things combined, that’s what it is.”
What is Mounjaro?
“Mounjaro is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, specifically known as tirzepatide,” says Asad Niazi, MD, MPH, Medical Advisor at Shed. “GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, a naturally occurring hormone that plays a key role in regulating appetite and blood sugar. Mounjaro also activates another receptor called GIP, which stands for glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide. Together, these two pathways are responsible for some of the most powerful effects we see in terms of weight loss and metabolic regulation.”
On the other hand, “Repatha, or evolocumab, is a PCSK9 inhibitor administered via subcutaneous injection that is designed to dramatically lower LDL cholesterol levels,” says Dr. Niazi. “It works by blocking a protein that reduces the liver’s ability to clear LDL from the bloodstream, which allows for more efficient and sustained cholesterol reduction.”
O’Donnell previously had weight-loss surgery
“I had a heart attack at 50,” O’Donnell told People magazine in 2013. “When I woke up, they said, ‘You should have died.’ Doctors said, ‘We need you to lose 50 pounds. in the next year, but you can’t have surgery or anything in the next year because you’ve had a heart attack.’”
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O’Donnell told People that after her heart attack, she spent the year trying to turn her health around.
“So for the year I tried, and I’ve been trying my whole life,” O’Donnell told People. “When I was 35 I got on my show, and that’s when I got over 200 pounds.. Before that I was about 175, on League of Their Own, or 170. When I got my show, I was over 200. It was a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.”
In 2013, O’Donnell had gastric sleeve surgery and went from 240 lbs to 176 pounds. “One year after my heart attack, I had the vertical sleeve surgery because my doctors said if I didn’t, I would have another heart attack,” O’Donnell told People. “And there was a very good chance I would not survive.”
While O’Donnell’s weight fluctuated since her surgery, her most recent social media posts prove that adopting healthier lifestyle habits—especially when paired with medications your doctor may recommend—can transform your health for the better.
Keep scrolling for more celebrity weight loss stories!
Kelly Rowland Lost 70 Lbs in 4 Months With the 80/20 Rule—and She Never Calls It a ‘Diet’
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Mariah Carey Lost 70 Pounds With Prepped Meals—and No Longer Steps on a Scale
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This content is not a substitute for professional medical advice or diagnosis. Always consult your physician before pursuing any treatment plan.