The Real Housewives of New Jersey star Lauren Manzo has admitted to using the weight loss drug Mounjaro to slim down.
The 35 year old put in the hard work as she dropped 50 pounds after going on a gluten and dairy-free diet, but when she couldn't shift more weight, her pharmacist recommended that she try Mounjaro.
She went on to lose 30 pounds with the help of the diabetes drug, bringing her total weight loss up to 80 lbs.
The reality star explained to Danny Murphy and Evan Real during Page Six's "Virtual Reali-Tea" podcast taping at City Winery in New York that she felt she had the right to use the controversial drug to help slim her down, but her "already skinny" Real Housewives co-stars don't have that same right.
"I have been considered morbidly obese," she explained: "I do think that people shouldn't abuse [ Ozempic ]. I think it's being abused because I see people, 'Housewives,' that are posting, and you literally see their ribs, and it's sad because you were already skinny."
Lauren went on to offer her own personal insight into why she turned to Mounjaro, a brand name of tirzepatide, revealing that being at her heaviest weight of 280 pounds took a significant toll on her mental health. On top of that, she was already suffering from anxiety, depression and high blood pressure.
So after losing as much weight as she could through her diet and exercise, she needed more assistance.
"My pharmacist was like, "Well, I heard Mounjaro works," and I'm like, "Oh, I'll do anything"', she explained.
Lauren continued: "I get it, people don't like it, people don't applaud it … but it's a shot in your stomach once a week; it's the same as Ozempic. And honestly, I really do believe that obesity and things like that — they are a major issue with people — it is causing mental health issues for me.
"You guys have seen the struggle with this since I was 20 years old, and it's been really hard for me.
'I mean, I'm not gonna lie, I feel like there have been times that I've been on the brink of an eating disorder or had issues myself. And this is the one thing — even above weight loss surgery — that has helped me a lot and cured me and mentally made me so much better. And I'm really grateful for it," she said.
Lauren, who got a lap band a decade earlier to help with weight loss, has been candid about her struggles in front of the camera before, revealing in a 2012 interview with US Weekly that it was "hard" seeing herself on screen because she felt like the camera added "800 pounds."
