Whoopi Goldberg Has Had A Head-Turning Weight Loss Transformation

As Whoopi Goldberg explained on "The View" in 2024, "My weight has come and gone and up and down, but it's never been an issue for me because I don't listen to what other people say about me." But despite her incredibly refreshing take on body confidence and refusal to let other people's opinions define her, this star has definitely experienced a weight rollercoaster over her decades-long career.

Goldberg, a celeb who's confronting aging with confidence, hasn't shied away from being open with the world about her body, and has candidly revealed the number she sees on the scale more than once. Much like Lizzo, whose weight loss transformation is also a sight to see, the "Sister Act" star been very transparent. Goldberg has offered insights into the various diets she's tried, in addition to speaking out about her experience with the weight loss drug Mounjaro, which she began using after reaching 300 pounds. And her weight loss transformation has certainly been head-turning.

In 2003, Whoopi Goldberg was named the face of Slim-Fast. After she began using the weight loss program in November 2003, she appeared in several print and video ads for the weight loss brand. Goldberg heavily promoted the company's a low-carbohydrate meal bars, but neither she nor the company publicly confirmed how much weight she lost by following the diet plan.

The star wasn't on the Slim-Fast promo bandwagon for long, though. In June 2004, Goldberg's contract was terminated following controversial comments she made about then-president George Bush. But the "Call Me Claus" actor didn't step back quietly. "Just because I'm no longer in those [commercial] spots, it doesn't mean I will stop talking," she said in a statement (via Irish Examiner). "While I can appreciate what the Slim-Fast people need to do in order to protect their business, I must also do what I need to do as an artist, as a writer and as an American — not to mention as a comic."

Five years after Whoopi Goldberg's Slim-Fast debacle, she spoke about her weight loss journey on "The View." During a 2009 episode of the ABC talk show, Goldberg made it clear she had no problem making the number she sees on the scale public when she confirmed she weighed 174 pounds (via HuffPost). The actor urged her co-host Joy Behar to the share her number, but she didn't.

Goldberg's weight reveal happened as the panel discussed Body Mass Index (BMI) numbers. Based on her 5-foot-5-inch height, Goldberg's BMI was around 29 at the time, while 18.5 to 23 would be considered a healthy weight for the star. But while it's commonly used to measure a person's health, BMI is actually BS, and shouldn't affect your body image. As family medicine doctor Holly Russell explained in her 2024 research, "Despite assumptions we've come to accept as facts, the evidence linking weight and health is inconsistent. And using a weight-based tool like BMI to draw conclusions about a person's health adds to the confusion."

In a 2010 Glamour interview, Whoopi Goldberg shared she'd lost weight after undertaking a detox recommended by fellow star Meredith Vieira. "I said, 'Give me some information!' You know, I have minimal interest in food to begin with," she said. Goldberg explained she hadn't always had the healthiest relationship with food, but didn't believe she gained weight because of overeating. "It's because I eat eight bags of chips in one sitting, and then nothing for a day or two," she said. "I learned that my body thought it was starving, so it would hold on to fat," she added.

The movie star confirmed what the detox plan entailed, sharing she'd been drinking three shakes each day alongside solid foods. "I have my crab, sushi or whatever, including chips. I just don't need eight bags," she said. The following year, "The Color Purple" star confirmed to "Today" that potato chips were one of her favorite foods and said she wouldn't be avoiding them. "I can't resist them. It's terrible," she said.

By 2014, Whoopi Goldberg was no longer detoxing, but she was trying another new diet plan. She told ABC News in September she'd been following Rocco DiSpirito's The Pound A Day Diet for 10 months. She was inspired to try the technique after reaching 217 pounds, having heard about it from "The View" co-host Sherri Shepherd. "I happened to notice that I had begun to look like a linebacker. I happened to look over and there was Sherri, skinny, and I said, 'What did you do? ... Please, I want to do it too,'" Goldberg said.

DiSpirito detailed his weight loss method in his book, "The Pound a Day Diet: Lose Up to 5 Pounds in 5 Days by Eating the Foods You Love," and told ABC News the technique is designed to help the body burn more fat. The plan involves drinking a lot of water and eating around 850 calories a day in the initial stages.

In 2019, Whoopi Goldberg put the lessons she'd learned during her weight loss journey to good use. The star followed a similar path to Jessica Simpson, who's also had a dramatic weight loss transformation, and launched her own clothing collection called DUGBEE, in sizes from XS to 3XL. "Because one tends to go up and down and sideways, and I always want something to wear from DUBGEE. I hope that everyone realizes that they have their own fashion style and exploring that can be fun," Goldberg said in a statement (via Woman's World). 

Goldberg also explained how important having a vast array of sizes was while speaking to WWD, but shared her collection was focused more on her female clientele than inclusive sizing. "If you're a woman who is a plus size, you don't have to worry about finding something in our line because we'll have it. If you're somebody who's much thinner, you don't have to worry about finding something in our line because we have it," she said.

Goldberg was clearly taking her health seriously. The following year, she became the face of the health and wellness company The One, Nutrition Just for You. "When COVID-19 struck, we all became acutely aware of our immune health. The Black community has been hit especially hard because of all of our pre-existing conditions. Now is the time for us to take our health into our own hands," Goldberg said in a press release (via PR Newswire).

Like so many of us, Whoopi Goldberg experienced weight gain around the time the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, and, sadly, she became the victim of a weight-shaming joke from Barbara Corcoran on "The View." The group were discussing guest Emma Grede's Good American jeans when the "Shark Tank" star quipped (via Daily Mail), "When you get finished with those jeans, and decide you don't like them, give them to me. I'm gonna make two pairs!" Corcoran later apologized for her comments in a video posted to X. "I made a joke at Whoopi's expense that I now realize wasn't funny," she said, in part.

Around the same time, Goldberg began filming the movie "Till," and later said on "The View" she weighed close to 300 pounds while shooting. "I had taken all those steroids and I was on all this stuff," she said. The talented actor had previously shared her disappointment that one reviewer mistakenly believed she was wearing a fat suit in the movie. "That was not a fat suit. That was me. That was steroids," she said in another episode of the daytime show. "I assume you don't watch the show or you would have known that wasn't a fat suit," she added. The steroid medication was likely to treat a painful bout of sciatica Goldberg experienced in 2021. The actor shared she'd been walking with a frame and struggled to move amid her health crisis, which saw her take some time off from the ABC daytime show.

In the years that followed her painful sciatica flare up, Whoopi Goldberg noticeably lost weight. She confirmed on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" she'd started using Mounjaro, joining the ranks of celebrities who totally transformed after taking Ozempic or other GLP-1's. "I'm doing that wonderful shot that works for folks who need some help and it's been really good for me," she told Clarkson, who's said a lot about her own weight loss journey over the years. Though Goldberg didn't explicitly share how much weight she'd lost, she told the "American Idol" winner, "I've lost almost two people."

Speaking about her decision to use weight loss medication on "The View" that same year, Goldberg said, "I just always felt like me, and then I saw me, and thought, 'Oh, that's a lot of me,'" she explained. The star also shared a poignant remark regarding her health, noting, "You have to take responsibility for yourself and see what's going on with your body."

Whoopi Goldberg became the target of scammers in 2025, as the "Made In America" actor's likeness was used in fake ads. The scam campaigns used Goldberg's likeness to promote phony weight loss techniques the "Ghost" star hadn't tried. "I'm giving everybody a heads-up. There is a phony weight loss ad floating around online, on Instagram, that has me, AI mouth, saying all kinds of stuff," Goldberg warned fans on "The View."

She encouraged viewers not to pay attention to the unauthorized ads, noting, "They have me selling bad weight loss drugs. Do not indulge in this, do not look at this, just get rid of it, because I don't know what it is. I had nothing to do with it and I don't want y'all thinking that this is coming from me." She added, "I told you what I did, I was up front." And she wasn't wrong. The TV star has been incredibly open about her journey over the years, far more so than many of her peers — and we love that she hasn't been afraid to keep it real no matter the number on the scale, speaking out without shame or judgement.