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Oprah Winfrey is returning to the small screen.
Her new show, titled An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution, will discuss the “radical impact of prescription weight loss medications”.
Oprah says she's eager to shed light on the stigma, controversy and discomfort surrounding the topic while looking at weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.
“I’m excited about this show because I’ve spent years in this business and been shamed myself. I want people to be liberated,” she told Entertainment Tonight at the 55th Annual NAACP Image Awards.
“I want people to stop being blamed for the choices that they make about their health.”
The show will feature medical experts and people battling obesity, which was classified as a disease by the American Medical Association in 2013.
It’s no secret that the media mogul has battled with her weight – it was documented on The Oprah Winfrey Show throughout its 25 seasons.
After losing nearly 20kg last year, she admitted having used a weight-loss drug but did not specify which one.
“It’s a personal topic for me and the hundreds of millions of people impacted around the globe who have struggled with weight and obesity,” she says.
Some of the questions addressed in the special include: what makes obesity a disease, for whom is the medication intended, who is eligible to receive weight-loss drugs, what to ask doctors, and what are the short and long-term side effects.
“We had to break it down. They’ve been having this medication for 20 years and we are just now hearing about it.”
READ MORE | Oprah on the weight debate and shedding kilos naturally
On the Oprah Daily website, she shares how all of this began with the revelation that obesity is a disease.
“I happened to miss that memo and every news story about it. Having that realisation and having it penetrate was life-enhancing for me.
“All these years, I thought it was all about willpower. It’s not. It’s about your brain, losing weight.”
Her personal experience and research since her epiphany taught her that everyone's body is different.
"The bottom line is if you are wired for adipose, the scientific term for fat, your brain is gonna fight to get you back to the weight that you were trying to lose. Understanding this has been so liberating."
With this special her intentions are threefold: letting people know that obesity is a disease, stopping the shaming and blaming, and educating people about what the drugs can and can’t do.
“In my lifetime, I never thought I would see what clinicians are calling a 'weight loss revolution', with medication that can help people struggling with obesity to lose weight.”
Oprah also announced that the show was why she was stepping down from the board of WeightWatchers after nearly a decade.
“This special was really important to me and I wanted to be able to talk about whatever I want to talk about,” she said on Jimmy Kimmel Live.
“WeightWatchers is now in the business of being a weight health company that also administers drug medications for weight. I did not want to have the appearance of any conflict of interest.”
Her shares in the company have been donated to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In the same interview, Oprah shared that after her double knee surgery in 2021, she promised God that if she could walk again, she would get in shape.
“I felt like I had to do it my way and had to prove that I could do it on my own, even though I was hearing people talk about the medication.”
The special airs on ABC in the US today, 18 March.
SOURCES: ETONLINE.COM, ABC.COM, OPRAHDAILY.COM, LATIMES.COM, YOUTUBE.COM
