I lost 3st with my ‘belly blitz' DVD but I'll NEVER take Ozempic – the side effects are horrific, says Charlotte Crosby
NO WEIGH I lost 3st with my 'belly blitz' DVD but I'll NEVER take Ozempic – the side effects are horrific, says Charlotte Crosby
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CHARLOTTE Crosby says she'd never take Ozempic because of all the horror side effects her friends have had.
She famously lost over three stone with her 'belly blitz' DVD, but now, as Charlotte reveals she's finally happy with her body and would never jump on the fat jab bandwagon.
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The mum-of-two has admitted she's never be tempted by fat-jabs
Credit: Instagram/ @charlottegshore
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Charlotte lost 3 stones with her Bum Blitz DVD
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Charlotte with her fiancee Jake Ankers and one of their daughters
Credit: instagram/@charlottegshore
The former Geordie Shore star, 35, says she's seen friends experience the same debilitating side effect when taking the medication and as a result has vowed to steer clear.
'I'd never go on Ozempic or Mounjaro or anything like that,' she told The Sun exclusively.
'I know people on it - the whole world's basically on it - and they all feel tired and lethargic.
'It's scary, because you don't know what the long term effects are going to be. I think there will be a lot of people who are going to suffer.
"I'm not a scientist and I'm not a doctor, but what's it going to do to peoples' bodies?
'I'm not willing to take that risk. Each to their own. But I'm worried about what's going to happen in the long term with these jabs, so that's why you won't ever see me on them.'
I'm not against surgery at all, if you want to change something about yourself, go for it. But please, don't go to Turkey to do it
Charlotte Crosby
Charlotte, who has two daughters, Alba, three and six month old Pixi, instead advocates for a regular exercise regime to stay slim.
Though she admits she hasn't done much of that since Pixi was born in January.
'By using the fat jabs, you're not getting anything like what you would get from exercise,' she explains.
'I lost weight naturally many, many years ago. I've been there. And I'm a big promoter of exercise.
Geordie Shore's Marnie Simpson gives birth to her third child and tells fans she feels 'so blessed'
"I love doing exercise. I personally haven't got back into it yet, because with two children, it's very hard, but I am all for the natural endorphins it releases.
"When I'm exercising, I am the best version of myself, so that's how I choose to get my kicks.'
Despite not attempting much exercise of late, Charlotte insists she's happier than ever in her own skin after a lifetime of battling her weight, which has seen her dress size fluctuate between a 16 and an 8 over the years.
Since giving birth for the second time she now feels 'really happy with my body again' and although she doesn't give away what size she is now, she confirms 'I'm not a size zero, I'm a normal girl.'
'I actually love my body more than ever after pregnancy, because my hips have widened and I like that look,' she says.
'I've got more of an hourglass figure purely because of my hips. I love it.'
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The star has fluctuated between a dress size 16 and 8
Credit: Fame Flynet
The subject soon turns to surgery, most notably the terrifying amount of women who are dying after having specific 'mummy makeovers' in Turkey.
The issue prompted the government to warn Brits that the standard of medical care in the country can vary, and they confirmed that 'six british nationals died in Turkey in 2024 following medical procedures.'
When asked if she'd ever consider going under the knife again (Charlotte has had breast and nose surgery before) for a mummy makeover, she recoils in horror.
'I would never, ever go to Turkey for any form of surgery,' she says, defiantly.
'I'm not against surgery at all, if you want to change something about yourself, go for it. But please, don't go to Turkey to do it.
"I can understand why people want to jump ship because it is so expensive in England but don't opt for a cheaper price, not when it comes to your body.
"Pay more. Get the better service. Do your research and stay in England. It'll cost more but you'll be happier with the results.'
When it comes to setting an example for her daughters, who she shares with fiance Jake Ankers, Charlotte's not necessarily concerned about them being influenced into getting surgery.
'I'm not worried Alba is going to see someone getting a boob job, and think, I want a boob job when she's ten,' she says, but she is concerned about the amount of screentime they have.
It's why she's championing the kids Summer Reading Challenge, an incentive to get more children reading books over the summer holidays.
'Reading with Alba is so magical,' Charlotte, who has just written her first fiction novel, gushes.
'I want her exposed to as many books as possible. There's too much emphasis on screen these days.
"You know one teacher told me how some children when they start school get given a book and they immediately try to swipe the cover.
"They don't even know how to turn pages, all they know is how to use an ipad. It's really quite scary.'
Open now in public libraries and online, the Summer Reading Challenge is the UK's biggest free reading programme for all families across the UK, inspiring children aged between 4-11 to read for fun over the summer holidays.
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Charlotte wants to bring her girls us as body-positive
Credit: Paramount/License To PR
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Charlotte recommends regular exercise
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Amid the turmoil, Novo abruptly ousted its CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, in May. (His successor, Mike Doustdar, was revealed last week.) Its difficulties, highlighted by its decision to declare war on 'fake' copycat weight-loss jabs as it battles a sales slowdown, have helped pave the way for new innovators keen to seize on Novo's slips and push the boundaries of science further. They will have no doubt been emboldened by last week's drama. 'It is really quite exciting at the moment,' says Prof John Wilding, who leads clinical research into obesity, diabetes and endocrinology at the University of Liverpool. He points to the increasingly widespread adoption of weight-loss drugs as a turbocharge for innovation in the industry. 'Once you've opened Pandora's box it becomes much easier to tweak [a formula], design it and change it. 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It was in the 1980s that researchers identified a hormone in the gut called GLP-1, produced when we eat, which triggered the release of insulin. A raft of diabetes drugs which mimicked its impact followed, with the first product, Byetta, made by Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Eli Lilly approved for use by America's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2005. The release of these hormones, called incretins, also acts to suppress appetite, signalling to the brain we are full. The side effect of which is, of course, weight loss. Seizing on the potentially revolutionary impact, Novo produced Saxenda, the first GLP-1 drug to be used for weight loss. After years of complex trials, during which it was found to help users shed up to five per cent of their weight, Saxenda was finally approved by the FDA and brought to market in 2014. Three years later, Ozempic was approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, followed by Wegovy for weight loss in 2021. The latter has been found to trigger up to a 17 per cent drop in body weight. But Eli Lilly was hot on Novo's heels with its own breakthrough product, Mounjaro. The drug went one step further by mimicking two gut hormones – GLP-1 and another, GIP. It was approved in injection form for diabetes in 2022, and a year later for weight loss. The most comprehensive trials revealed those taking the medication typically lose some 21 per cent of their body weight over an 18-month period. 'It's two hormones in one,' says Dr Martin Whyte, associate professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Surrey. 'The GLP-1 essentially gets to live on its receptor for longer in the presence of GIP. So that means it has a more durable action.' Hunting for the 'holy grail' formula In a bid not to be left behind, Novo is now pursuing a similar combination. The company is seeking to combine GLP-1 with another hormone, Amylin, which is not an incretin but a peptide produced in the pancreas (with its own impact on appetite-signalling to the brain). But their new drug in the works – CagriSema, a once-weekly injection – hasn't quite performed as hoped in trials. Novo suggested it was capable of producing 25 per cent average weight loss, but participants lost an average of 23 per cent over the course of a year. It is yet to be approved for weight loss anywhere in the world. 'I wouldn't rush to say it would be better [than Mounjaro], it might be equivalent,' says Whyte. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly seems intent on pulling further ahead still. It is now working on a drug which combines three incretins - GLP-1, GIP and another, Glucagon, which can also break down fat stores. The early results for Retatrutide, a weekly jab, look promising. In trials, participants have registered 17 per cent weight loss within 24 weeks and 24 per cent after 48. Whyte believes it may be available to consumers by this time next year, and compares its impact to that of a gastric bypass. 'The holy grail of weight-loss drugs is to produce a medical gastric bypass [and] get to the point you wouldn't need to do these operations any more,' he says. The race for a pill Beyond refining formulas, the most significant breakthrough to come will perhaps be the introduction of a pill. A weight-loss drug in tablet form would almost certainly have even greater mass appeal than existing offerings. Pills would likely be cheaper for consumers, owing to reduced production costs, and they would cut out the current need for refrigeration and injector pens. That's not to mention the number of needle-shy people who might be persuaded to swallow a tablet instead. Indeed, a Time magazine piece published earlier this year, titled 'The Big Promise: How a New Weight-Loss Pill Could Transform Health', detailed how a tablet could 'expand ... [the] market in significant ways' and allow a successful producer to 'potentially dominate it'. Novo is attempting to win this race within a race – it already has a GLP-1 type 2 diabetes pill on the market called Rybelsus. Although tests show this does not trigger dramatic weight loss, it is still a promising starting point, says Whyte. In a six-month study, people weighing an average of 194lb, and taking 14mg of the drug, lost around 8lb. The pill 'is relatively unique among companies so far,' he says. 'Generally speaking, when you give a hormone in a tablet form it just gets destroyed by the acid in the stomach. So they've been able to do something very clever, wrapping around the actual GLP-1 to prevent that from happening.' The technology of Novo's pill coating, Whyte says, is called SNAC, and works by neutralising the pH of the stomach acid when the tablet enters it, allowing the drug to be absorbed across the stomach lining. He believes Novo will eventually be looking to package CagriSema in tablet form. But 'it's a close race', Whyte adds. Eli Lilly have their own tablet in the making – Orforglipron. Designed to be taken daily, it was found in studies to be around as effective as a weekly Ozempic injection. Pfizer has also been working on a pill, but some prototypes have already been pulled, and a San Diego-based company, Viking Therapeutics, is developing a dual GLP-1 and GIP drug in both injection and pill form. It could be two years before Novo and Eli Lilly's tablets reach the market, Whyte estimates, but pills may ultimately prove a game-changer.
