Kelly Clarkson says she takes a weight-loss drug that is not Ozempic

Kelly Clarkson told her talk show audience on May 13 that a prescription medicine helped her lose weight, and that the medicine is not Ozempic. She did not say which drug she uses ^[1].

The remark came during a conversation with Whoopi Goldberg on "The Kelly Clarkson Show." Clarkson, 42, described her medicine only as "a different one than people assume" and said she turned to it after "my bloodwork got so bad" ^[1].

"Everybody thinks it's Ozempic. It's not," she said ^[1].

Her explanation of what the drug does was one sentence: something that helps break down sugar, because "my body doesn't do it right," she said ^[1]. She gave no name for the product, no condition it is prescribed to treat, and no date when she started it ^[1].

Goldberg, sitting across from her, was more specific. She has said publicly that she takes Mounjaro, and she called it "that wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help," adding that it has worked well for her ^[1]. She also joked that she had "lost almost two people" ^[1].

Ozempic is a diabetes drug that doctors sometimes prescribe off-label for weight loss ^[1]. It has grown widely popular and has been credited by celebrities for helping them shed pounds ^[1].

A two-year hesitation

Clarkson said she was slow to start treatment. Her doctor raised the idea repeatedly for about two years, she said, while she held back out of fear and because she already had thyroid problems ^[1].

She also described the moment she decided something had to change. At her heaviest she weighed 203 pounds, she said, and while watching a recording of a birthday show at her home in New York she stopped the video and did not recognize the person on screen ^[1].

"You see it and you're like, 'Well, she's about to die of a heart attack,'" she recalled ^[1]. She added that she had not been unhappy with her appearance and had never felt insecure about it ^[1].

The May disclosure revises part of an earlier account. In January, Clarkson said she had been diagnosed as pre-diabetic, and that same month she told People her weight loss came from following her doctor's advice on food, leaning on protein, and walking around the city ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Ruling out one brand is not the same as naming a treatment. Ozempic is approved for diabetes and is sometimes used off-label for weight loss ^[1], so a listener who hears only "not Ozempic" learns which product a public figure avoids, not what she takes instead ^[1].

Two people on the same couch that day described two different situations. One gave the name Mounjaro; the other closed off one possibility. Neither comment carries any information about what would suit another person ^[1], and the segment did not compare products or explain how they differ ^[1].

Clarkson's stated reasons were medical rather than cosmetic: worsening lab results, a pre-diabetes diagnosis, and a thyroid history that made her cautious ^[1]. Those are the details of one patient's record. They do not show who should take a weight-loss drug, which one, or when to begin.

One practical detail the conversation left out entirely is how such a prescription is obtained and paid for. Nothing about insurance coverage, cost, or supply appeared in the exchange ^[1].

What happens next

Clarkson has not named the medication, and no date has been given for any further comment on it ^[1]. Goldberg's use of Mounjaro was already public before the May 13 episode ^[1].