fat-destroying jab used by cCelebrities like Rebel Wilson, Sharon Osbourne, Stephen Fry and Elon Musk have helped thousands lose weight.
Several lawmakers have now also confessed to receiving the “game-changing” injections every week.
Last week, Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick revealed he had taken the weight-loss drug Ozempic for a “short period” to lose weight.
The former immigration secretary, who is running to succeed Rishi Sunak, lost four stone (18kg) in 12 months after realising he was “too fat”.
But he’s not the only politician to admit to trying weight-loss injections.
Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick was photographed earlier this month revealing that he had been taking the weight-loss drug Ozempic for a “short period”.
The former immigration minister, pictured in July last year, lost four stone in 12 months after realising he was “too fat”.
Semaglutide injections, the genetic name for the injections Ozempic and Wegovi, mimic a hormone produced naturally in the body called GLP-1, which slows the passage of food through the stomach and reduces hunger.
This changes the way your brain regulates appetite, so you feel full even when eating less and you don’t crave sweet or fatty foods.
As a result, people eat less and lose weight.
It was originally developed as a treatment for type 2 diabetes, but has garnered attention as a weight loss drug among many celebrities.
But there are warnings that the drug can cause serious side effects, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Jenrick, 42, said Ozempic “helped me” but “I didn’t particularly enjoy it” and that he had since “lost the weight in the normal way, by eating less and exercising”.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was overweight,” the Conservative member of Congress from Newark told Politico about his use of Ozempic.
“I took Ozempic for a short period of time and, although I didn’t particularly like it, it helped.”
“Since then, I’ve lost the weight the usual ways – eating less, eating healthier, going to the gym, running, etc.”
“I’ve lost four stone in 12 months.”
Semaglutide, along with rival drugs liraglutide and tirzepatide, have been hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against obesity.
Pictured in 2023, Boris Johnson wrote about his rollercoaster experience at Ozempic for the Daily Mail.
After the injections began making him feel ill, Boris stopped taking them and began relying on “exercise and willpower,” as seen in this 2020 photo.
Boris Johnson, 60, also admitted to using the drug to lose a few pounds.
The former Conservative MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip wrote in the Daily Mail that her experience had been a rollercoaster after she chose Ozempic on the recommendation of a cabinet colleague.
“It’s simple,” the doctor said. Just inject a little bit of clear Ozempic liquid into my abdomen once a week, and before you know it, I’ll no longer have to dig through the fridge at 11:30 pm to get some cheddar and chorizo to wash down with half a bottle of wine.
“I poked my stomach for weeks and weeks and it worked. I pushed aside puddings and refills with ease. I must have lost four or five pounds a week, maybe more,” he wrote.
But the injections began making him feel sick, so he stopped taking them and started relying on “exercise and willpower.”
But he added that he might return if weight-loss drugs improve: “I look at my colleagues and they’re losing weight but they’re not feeling more hungry. If science can do it for them, I hope that one day it might help me and help everyone.”
Before Nadine Dorries decided to jump on the Ozempic bandwagon – her excess weight was mostly around her waist
Nadine Dorries, 67, a former Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire, also admitted that she had jumped on the “Ozempic bandwagon”.
Two years ago, when she was still culture minister, her doctor told her she was pre-diabetic and told her to lose “at least 12 pounds.”
But even after dieting and getting out of “pre-diabetic” territory, she was told she still needed to lose weight.
Blood tests revealed she had non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, a buildup of fat in the liver that is common in obese and overweight people and can lead to more serious damage later on.
Dries started doing yoga and Pilates and walking more, but she still couldn’t lose the weight.
Eventually, she began taking Munjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide, a drug that activates receptors called GLP-1 (which Ozempic also targets) and another called GIP, slowing the rate at which food is digested and lowering blood sugar.
Like Ozempic, Mounjaro suppresses your appetite and stops you thinking about food, which means you lose interest in food and eat much less than you would normally.
“I didn’t have any appetite but I didn’t miss food either,” she wrote in the Daily Mail. “I just didn’t think about it the way I do when I’m on a diet, where you’re always hungry and you’re always wondering when and what you’re going to eat next.”
Three weeks after taking the drug, she passed out. She admitted that she had forgotten to eat for almost 24 hours.
But by the end of the first month she had lost about a stone (about 4.5 kilos).
In July, she wrote: “I’ll continue for 2 months (when I placed my second order the doctor from the website called me and told me everything) and then I’ll stop.”
“By the time I finish I will weigh nine stone and my BMI will be in the healthy range at 23, but I don’t want to continue any longer. I have to achieve this goal and to do that I need some discipline.”
