Rebel Wilson becomes Noom's chief wellness officer, leading campaign pairing GLP-1s with habit change

Rebel Wilson, the actor who has said she used Ozempic to hold on to a 77-pound weight loss, is now chief wellness officer at the telehealth company Noom, where she is leading a campaign that promotes the idea that GLP-1 medications and healthy lifestyle habits work better together ^[1].

Wilson's own history with the drugs is part of the pitch. She has said she made 2020 her "year of health" and lost 77 pounds that year, then used Ozempic for a period of time to maintain that loss ^[1]. In a company press release, she framed weight maintenance, not weight loss, as the harder problem.

"Everyone assumes losing the weight is the hard part," Wilson said. "Two kids and five years later, I can tell you staying there is the real test, and the one most people don't talk about. The habits I built with Noom are just part of my life now. That's the thing nobody tells you: When they actually stick, it stops feeling like a battle" ^[1].

Noom is not the first weight-loss brand to put a well-known GLP-1 user in front of the public. Chrissy Metz, the This Is Us actor, is a brand ambassador for the digital health company Ro after years of skepticism about the drugs ^[1]. Serena Williams, a paid ambassador for Ro, has said she lost 31 pounds using Zepbound (tirzepatide) after her second child and described the drug as "not a shortcut, it's healthcare," part of a plan that also includes diet and exercise ^[1]. Shaquille O'Neal has partnered with Eli Lilly, the maker of Zepbound, and said he takes the drug for moderate obstructive sleep apnea, a use he described as part of his treatment ^[1].

The accounts celebrity endorsers give are not always about staying on the medication. Oprah Winfrey has said she stopped taking a GLP-1 about six months after starting, spent the next year trying to maintain her weight without it, and regained about 20 pounds. She later described the drugs as something she expects to need long term, comparing them to her blood pressure medication ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Celebrity endorsements do not change what a GLP-1 drug does, but they shape the story patients hear about how the drugs are meant to be used. The message Noom is now paying Wilson to carry — that medication is one piece of a plan that also includes habits — matches what several of the celebrities in this group have said about their own routines, whether or not their drug was combined with a structured program ^[1].

Wilson's case also puts a spotlight on maintenance rather than weight loss, the phase she describes as the real test ^[1]. That question — what happens after the weight comes off — is the same one Winfrey ran into when she stopped her medication and later concluded she needed it ^[1].

What Wilson's role does not establish is anything clinical. The article does not report any trial, outcome data, or comparison of results for people who use Noom with a GLP-1 versus a GLP-1 alone, and Noom has not said whether the campaign will include a study ^[1]. Whether Wilson currently takes a GLP-1 has not been disclosed, and the terms of her position, including any compensation, have not been reported ^[1].

What happens next

Noom has not disclosed a start date, an end date, or specific activities for the campaign beyond Wilson's press statement and the medication-plus-habits message ^[1]. Whether other weight-loss companies follow with their own celebrity partnerships in the same style has not been reported ^[1].