Oprah Winfrey reveals GLP-1 weight loss drug made her quit drinking alcohol after wild ’17 shots’ night

Oprah Winfrey has revealed that the GLP-1 weight loss medication she began taking in 2023 has unexpectedly curbed her desire to drink alcohol.

In a new interview with People, the OWN founder opened up about how the medication, which she has been using for roughly two and a half years, transformed her relationship with food and exercise, in addition to erasing her taste for alcohol.

‘The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing,’ Winfrey said.

The talk show legend, who turns 72 next month, admitted she was once able to ‘outdrink everyone at the table’ and ‘was a big fan of tequila.’

‘I literally had 17 shots one night,’ she says. ‘I haven’t had a drink in years. The fact that I no longer even have a desire for it is pretty amazing.’ 

The media mogul also got candid about her struggles with weight and previously believing her challenges were rooted in discipline and willpower.

‘I thought it was about discipline and willpower. But I stopped blaming myself,’ she told People, explaining that she ultimately realized she was struggling with obesity and needed medical help.

At her heaviest, Winfrey weighed 237 pounds. She revealed that she was pre-diabetic and had high cholesterol, despite attempts to accept her larger body. 

‘I was not healthy at 211 lbs,’ she said, noting that her health markers made it clear something needed to change.

Since starting the medication, Winfrey says she no longer obsesses over food and has embraced exercise for the first time in her life. 

She now works out for about two hours a day, six days a week, hiking, doing cardio, or strength training.

As she approaches her 72nd birthday, she said she has gone from viewing exercise as punishment to happily ‘side-planking and deadlifting.’

‘I’m not constantly punishing myself,’ she explained. ‘I hardly recognize the woman I’ve become. But she’s a happy woman.’

Winfrey said she briefly stopped taking the injections in early 2024, continuing to eat well and exercise – but gained weight. 

She now understands the medication will likely be ‘a lifetime thing’ and typically takes the shots weekly, but sometimes stretches them to 10 or 12 days.

‘You need to start slow and gradual,’ she advised. ‘If you start by taking too much at one time, you have more of a chance of messing yourself up.’

She also noted her longtime partner Stedman Graham, 74, has been ‘nothing but supportive’ of her weight loss journey. 

‘I feel like I have more to give to everybody. I’m just more open to all,’ she said. 

The medication has helped her drop approximately 50 pounds, though she emphasizes that her journey is no longer about the number on the scale.

Winfrey also addressed past criticism, noting that she once referred to prescription weight-loss medication as an ‘easy way out.’

In December 2023, after years of speculation, she publicly acknowledged using a GLP-1 drug and said she was ‘done with the shaming.’

‘I now use it as I feel I need it, as a tool to manage not yo-yoing,’ she told People.

‘The fact that there’s a medically approved prescription for managing weight and staying healthier, in my lifetime, feels like relief, like redemption, like a gift,’ she added. ‘And not something to hide behind and once again be ridiculed for.’

Looking back, Winfrey says she finally feels liberated from a struggle that played out publicly for years.

‘I feel more alive and more vibrant than I’ve ever been,’ she said. ‘Whatever was happening needed to happen to get me to this point… And I am healthier now.’