Brooks Nader Admits Her Modeling 'Career Took Off' After She Started Using a GLP-1 to Lose Weight

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Brooks Nader is being transparent about her health.

The model, 28, opened up about her continued use of GLP-1 in a recent interview with Bustle despite being aware that the weight loss drug is “not healthy” for her to be using and that she “should get off it.”

The topic arose following Nader’s struggles with body image that came to light in the Freeform series, Love Thy Nader, when she revealed she had been micro-dosing GLP-1 during episode 7 released in September.

“I typically micro-dose GLP-1, this weight loss drug,” she explained to her sisters on the show. “But now, since I have Maxim coming up, and I’m probably gonna be half-naked, I’m upping my dose a little because I want to be extra snatched.”

“But at the same time, the symptoms of the weight loss drug, they’ve gotten a lot worse recently,” added Nader, who was found nearly unconscious in a bathtub that led to her sisters staging an intervention about her eating habits and GLP-1 use.

When speaking with Bustle, the Dancing with the Stars alum opened up about the reaction in response to the episode and shared the comments she received from viewers that surprised her in the wake of its release.

“The thing that I was so shocked about with the show was that I had so many people reach out to me saying, ‘I’m also addicted to GLP-1. I’m ashamed to talk about it because there’s such a stigma around it. It’s a crutch for me’,” Nader told the outlet.

Then, Nader spoke about her relationship with the weight loss drug today.

“I’m still on it. It’s a crutch for me, too. It’s not healthy. I should get off it; I’ll be honest about that,” she shared.

Nader pursued modeling seriously in 2017, when she left a full-ride scholarship at Tulane University in New Orleans and moved to New York. Her career began with hand-modeling gigs before transitioning into the big leagues: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

A 2019 SI Swimsuit open casting call changed the trajectory of her modeling career. She beat 10,000 applicants for the job — and eventually, worked her way up from in-book model to cover star. Now, she’s repped by the same IMG exec as Gigi and Bella Hadid.

Meanwhile, Nader alludes to her usage of the weight loss drug for her career successes at the start.

“If I didn’t get a job, I would say to [my old agency], ‘Can we get feedback from the client?’ The direct feedback was I needed to lose 30 pounds. I didn’t shed one tear over it. I don’t feel bad for myself. I just say, ‘The facts are they want me to lose weight. How can I achieve that’?” she told Bustle.

“The facts are that when I started GLP-1, my career took off,” the model continued. “I’m not saying it’s OK. I’m not saying it’s right. I think everybody is different — but I lost 30 pounds, and I booked all the jobs.”

The GLP-1 drugs have become popular in Hollywood for weight loss, both for those who only need to lose a few pounds as well as for those who have been open about their long-term weight struggles.

“The Hollywood trend is concerning,” Dr. Caroline Apovian, co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, told PEOPLE of the shortage of drugs following its popularity among celebrities.

“We’re not talking about stars who need to lose 10 lbs.,” she added of those who struggled to find the medication amid the boom, explaining, “We’re talking about people who are dying of obesity, are going to die of obesity.”

Elsewhere in her interview with Bustle, Nader revealed the cosmetic procedures she’s undergone. Among them are a nose job, veneers, a number of injectables from salmon sperm facials and the “Nefertiti” Botox neck lift.

The model previously voiced her support for those who do decide to get plastic surgery.

“If you want to do something to make you feel more beautiful, you should do it,” she told Us Weekly. “No hate on you if you want a nose job or a boob job. Just do it. Who cares?”