GAVIN and Stacey star opens up about his struggles with binge eating and admitted to using the controversial weight loss drug Ozempic in an effort to slim down.
James, 46, previously admitted to being bullied over his weight.
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He opened up about his mental health issues and how it lead to food addiction, revealing he binge eats giant chocolate bars in his car.
In a segment for his Sirius XM radio show, the actor explained what happened when he turned to medication for help.
Ozempic is a diabetes drug that many celebrities have been crediting with drastic weight-loss.
The medication is known to make its user feel full, and interacts with the body’s hormones to slow down metabolism.
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However, NHS doctors have also warned of “dangerous” complications that come when the drug is “abused”.
James said: “I tried Ozempic, and it won’t be surprising to you when you look at me now, that it didn’t really work.
“I tried it for a bit and then what I realised was I was like, ‘Oh no, nothing about my eating has anything to do with being hungry.’
“All it does is make you feel not hungry. But I am very rarely eating [just because I’m hungry].”
He added: “You are looking at someone who’s eaten a king size, and when I say king size Dairy Mil – one you give someone for Christmas – in a carwash.
“None of that was like, oh, I’m so hungry. It is not that, it’s something else.”
Other celebrities have chimed in on the debate around Ozempic.
Oscar-winning actor Kate Winslet is against the use of the drug, along with former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne warning of its use.
Kelly Osbourne incited fury after she said any critics of the drug simply “couldn’t afford it”.
Earlier this year, Stephen Fry also warned about its use after he said he was “throwing up five times a day” when he tried it.
What is Ozempic?
So what exactly is this drug? Semaglutide belongs to a class called GLP-1 agonists, which not only regulate blood sugar but, as was discovered about a decade ago, also mimic the gut hormones that regulate our appetites – the ones that tell the brain when we are hungry or full.
Originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, it is used off-label (for a purpose other than that for which it was licensed) in both the US and the UK to treat obesity. In research conducted by its billionaire manufacturer, the Danish-based pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, patients lost an average of 17 per cent of their overall body weight over 68 weeks. This compares with five to nine per cent for ‘oldschool’ anti-obesity drugs such as Metformin.
Only available in the UK on the NHS if you have type 2 diabetes, Ozempic can be obtained through a private doctor, and if you are willing to take it without medical supervision – not recommended by doctors (see panel) – you can get it online through various weight-loss programmes. It is sometimes taken in tablet form but more commonly as an injection.
Hollywood has been aware of Ozempic for a lot longer than us – Variety magazine recently quipped that the drug deserved its own thank-you speech at the Emmys, as so many stars on the podium had obviously been taking it. Elon Musk raved about its more powerful sister drug, Wegovy, on Twitter; Kim Kardashian, it is hotly rumoured, used semaglutide to lose 16lb in order to fit into Marilyn Monroe’s dress for the Met Ball. On TikTok the hashtag #ozempic has had more than 285 million views.
Thanks to the hype, there has been a surge in demand, with a backlash against influencers and celebrities hogging supplies ahead of desperate diabetes sufferers.
“The first week or so, I was thinking, ‘This is astonishing. Not only do I not want to eat, I don’t want any alcohol of any kind.’
“This is going to be brilliant,’” he said during a recent appearance on the River Café Table 4 podcast.
He was forced to stop taking Ozempic after he began feeling “sicker and sicker”.
Oprah Winfry made a documentary, ‘An Oprah Special: Shame, Blame and the Weight Loss Revolution’, for ABC about the weight-loss drug.
After he first found fame on slimming club comedy Fat Friends, James signed a multi million pound deal to be the face of Weight Watchers three years ago.
He praised them for helping him shed two stone, but he parted ways with the company last year.
After nearly a decade in Hollywood hosting The Late, Late Show, James stepped down from his role last year and returned to the UK with his wife and family.
He is now working on the upcoming Gavin and Stacey Christmas special, which will reunite him with former co-stars Mathew Horne, Joanna Page, Rob Brydon, and co-creator Ruth Jones.
This special is being promoted as the final installment of the award-winning comedy.
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