Sophia Umansky Reacts to Backlash Over Mounjaro Use After Revealing Hair Loss

While speaking with People at the Season 2 premiere of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives on Friday, the reality star — who is the daughter of Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky responded to backlash to her using Mounjaro after she revealed the weight loss drug resulted in her suffering “dramatic” hair loss.

Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is one of the antidiabetic drugs that has gained popularity — especially among celebrities — for its weight loss benefits.

Sophia, 25, defended her decision to use Mounjaro, and shared why she wanted to be “honest” about her fans, while also calling out critics.

“If you’re honest about things, people can’t even judge you or hate on you because you said it yourself,” she said. You’re the one that told everyone, you’re owning it, so anything anyone else has to say, it’s like, ‘Okay, well, I told you that. I’m owning it.’ I think it’s fine. And I always say I’m on Mounjaro. I obviously talk to a doctor.”

“People who are telling me that I don’t need to be on it, they don’t know what they’re talking about. They’re not doctors,” she added. “And I think everyone needs to calm down and live their own lives. And honesty will get you far in life and lying is not fun. It’s not good.”

Sophia also shared what mom, Kyle, thinks about her decision to be on the weight loss medication, telling People that The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is “very supportive of whatever decisions we make as her daughters.” (Kyle also shares Alexia, 28, and Portia, 17, with ex Mauricio, who also helped raise Kyle’s daughter Farrah, 36, from her previous marriage.)

However, Sophia admitted that while her mother is “supportive,” she initially advised her against using Mounjaro.

“I am 25 years old, so I’m an adult, I can do what I want,” she declared. “And of course we have guidance from our mom, and she wasn’t saying like, ‘Oh, you should be on this medication.’ Definitely not saying that.”

“I think she was definitely trying to veer me away from getting on this medication, but once I spoke to doctors and she saw that that’s the path I wanted to take, she was very supportive,” she added.

Sophia went on to respond to critics who claim she has body dysmorphia. Per the NHS, Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), or body dysmorphia, is “a mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about flaws in their appearance.”

“Yeah, I think a lot of people are saying that I have body dysmorphia and all this, and I’m like, ‘Actually, no. I think I’m cute both ways. I think I was cute before and I’m cute now,'” Sophia told People. “There’s nothing wrong with trying to feel a little bit more confident, a little bit cuter. People get worked on all the time, they get filler, they get Botox, they do all different kinds of things. So if I want to feel a little cuter, why not?”

Sophia’s comments come a little over a week after she revealed the shocking hair loss she said she suffered from using Mounjaro.

The Buying Beverly Hills star posted a TikTok video, in which she shared that she started taking the weight loss medication “four months ago,” and recently starting experience “dramatic” hair loss.

“I am very lucky that I have so much hair, because at the rate that I’ve been losing hair, I’m gonna be bald in about a week,” Sophia began in her video.

“I started Mounjaro about four months ago, and I would say, like, maybe for the past three weeks to a month, I’ve noticed a dramatic hair loss situation,” she continued.

Sophia then showed what she described as “graphic” footage of what her “hair loss looks like,” including videos of a large clump of Sophia’s hair on the shower wall, and another pile near the drain.

“I really need you guys to understand the depth of the situation,” she said in a voiceover. “This is everything I brush out of my hair before the shower, and everything that comes out during the shower.”

Sophia went on to note that she doesn’t believe Mounjaro is causing her to lose her hair, but her “rapid” weight loss.

“I think it’s a direct result the medication. I think it’s a direct result of rapid weight loss because of the medication, and not eating enough vitamins, protein, all that kind of stuff,” she explained. “I feel like at the beginning of starting this medication, I was just making sure that I was eating enough. I wasn’t really thinking about enough protein, enough vitamins … So I think because of that, I have started losing hair.”

Sophia added that she’s making an “effort” into “eating more protein” and “taking more vitamins,” before she shared a handful of products and supplements that she purchased to “try to not be bald.”

While hair loss is not one of the common side effects of GLP-1 drugs, rapid weight loss has been known to cause a hair loss condition called telogen effluvium, per Medical News Today.