The whispers surrounding Ozempic and Wegovy—the brand names for semaglutide—have risen to a roar. While the injectable medication is typically used to treat type 2 diabetes, it’s since become popular with celebrities thanks to a key side effect: weight loss. But off-label use of the drug has stirred controversy, as the drug is now in shortage, meaning that patients who actually need it can’t access it. Real Housewives of New Jersey (RHONJ) star Jackie Goldschneider, who has been open about her battle with anorexia, recently shared her thoughts on the Ozempic craze and how it’s affecting her friends. Read on to find out what Goldschneider had to say, and why the drug makes her “very, very scared.”
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In an appearance on Page Six‘s podcast Virtual Reali-Tea, Goldschneider was clear about her disdain for Ozempic, saying that she “can talk about it all day.”
“I’m horrified by it,” she said, noting that she understands people want to lose weight, but she worries about what will happen when they stop taking Ozempic.
“I’m very, very scared of what will happen if and when people have to go off of this drug, because it’s just going to be like a massive number of people who gain a huge amount of weight and suddenly don’t know what to do with themselves,” Goldschneider explained. “I’m just afraid of that day—there’s going to be a lot of people with eating disorders.”
She also commented on the potential addictive aspects of Ozempic, as people can become obsessed when they “start dropping massive amounts of weight,” referencing her own struggles with an eating disorder.
“That’s so addicting. I mean, that’s how I spiraled into anorexia. You get addicted to this new body and to the attention that comes with it,” Goldschneider said.
Goldschneider has been dealing with anorexia for nearly 18 years, and throughout four seasons of RHONJ, she’s been vocal about her recovery. The reality star discusses how the disease has impacted her life in a new memoir, The Weight of Beautiful, which will be published in September, People reported.
Goldschneider told the outlet in Dec. 2022 that she was in a “really good place” in terms of her recovery, noting how grateful she was to Bravo for moving her into a “Friend Of role” (a supporting rather than full-time role) for Season 13. But speaking on the Page Six podcast, Goldschneider opened up about how the Ozempic craze made it harder to rejoin her friend group.
“It made my recovery harder, from a selfish standpoint, because I wanted to come back into a world where everyone around me was eating and loving food and enjoying life,” she said. “I wanted to come back to that, but I didn’t because a lot of people in the Housewives world are on Ozempic—a lot of my friends are in the Housewives world—and it was tough for me to come back and suddenly no one’s eating when we go out to dinner.”
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Goldschneider recognizes there are people who need Ozempic for legitimate health reasons, but seeing her friends on the drug wasn’t easy and “threw a little wrench” into her recovery. Still, she didn’t name names.
“It’s not that a lot of my friends are on it … I’m not like saying anyone in particular is on it, it’s just, people I know are on it,” she said on the Page Six podcast. “I looked up to some people as like people who had a very normal relationship with food, and now apparently they don’t, and it’s hard for me.”
While Goldschneider wasn’t quick to reveal which of her friends are using Ozempic, there’s been speculation in the media about Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards.
Richards has been flaunting her toned physique on social media, where commenters accused her of using the fad drug for weight loss. Richards shut down the allegations on her posts, and later called the rumors “frustrating” during a Feb. 1 interview with Extra.
“I cannot stand people saying that, because people that know me know that I’m up every day at like 5:30, 6 a.m. at the latest—that’s a late morning, 6 a.m.—I’m in the gym for two hours,” Richards told the outlet while at the 2023 American Heart Association’s (AHA) Go Red for Women Red Dress Collection event.
She added, “I really put a lot of effort into my diet and exercise and taking care of myself, so when people like to think I took the easy way out, it’s frustrating.”