Melissa McCarthy Has Had A Stunning Weight Loss Transformation

Melissa McCarthy has been very open about her relationship with her body. The "Mike & Molly" actor has undergone a drastic weight loss transformation (much like her fellow actor, Whoopi Goldberg) and looks strikingly different from when she gained notoriety as Sookie St. James in "Gilmore Girls" or had the world laughing in "Bridesmaids." She told Rolling Stone in 2017 that she became conscious of her body and the way she looked early on in life, sharing, "I do think I worried about weight too soon ... I thought I battled weight throughout high school, but I look back at pictures of me as a cheerleader, doing sprints, lifting weights, doing gymnastics, playing tennis ... I was a size six the entire time." She added, "Like, I would kill, absolutely kill, to look like that now."

She also touched on her struggles to accept her body and her fluctuating weight in a 2013 interview with More. "I've been every size in the world. Parts of my twenties, I was in great shape, but I didn't appreciate it. If I was a six or an eight, I thought, 'Why aren't I a two or a four?'" she said (via Us Weekly). "Now I feel like I have two great kids and the dreamiest husband on the planet, and everything else is just a work in progress," the star, who's married to fellow actor Ben Falcone, added. And McCarthy has certainly been working on developing a healthy lifestyle. And she doesn't gatekeep how she made these healthy changes, either.

Melissa McCarthy started gradually losing weight around 2013. When asked on "The Breakfast Club" why she opted for the slow and steady approach over the likes of fad diets or weight loss surgery, she explained, "I was like, 'If I can de-stress and just do it slower and stop constantly trying to be on something.'" And slowing things down and keeping it natural worked. "Instead of being like, 'I'm gonna not do this and do this and only drink this,' instead of the crazy plan ... I was like, 'I'm just gonna mellow out, give myself a break,'" she added of her more casual mentality.

McCarthy also spoke about how her size had previously impacted her fashion choices. "Two Oscars ago, I couldn't find anybody to do a dress for me," she told Redbook in 2014. "I asked five or six designers — very high-level ones who make lots of dresses for people — and they all said no," she added, suggesting her size played a part. But McCarthy got the last laugh, as she launched her own clothing line in 2015 that offered inclusive sizes.

By 2015, Life & Style reported Melissa McCarthy had lost 50 pounds. "It may be the best thing I've ever done. I feel amazing!" she told the outlet, crediting the martial arts training she did for the movie "Spy" for helping her get into shape. McCarthy was asked about her weight loss journey on "CBS Mornings" too. "I finally said, 'Oh, for God's sake, stop worrying about it.' And it may be the best thing I've ever done," she said. The star noted how she overhauled her lifestyle, "I stopped overanalyzing, overthinking, overdoing anything ... I just stopped constantly being worried about it. And I think there's something to kind of loosening up and not being so nervous and rigid about it that bizarrely has worked." The star also joked she wished she'd figured out the method that worked for her sooner. 

As interest grew in her new look, the following year, McCarthy made it clear to Extra that there were no shortcuts to her weight loss. "No trick, nothing to tell, just super boring life. You bring it real down, you don't do anything fun, and you go to bed at 7:30 p.m. — that's the trick," she said.

Melissa McCarthy addressed her changing body in an interview with Refinery29 in 2016. She confirmed she wasn't putting pressure on herself to stay the same weight or continue losing, stating, "I'll be up, I'll be down, probably for the rest of my life." "The Little Mermaid" star also (rightly) pointed out that the number she sees on the scale and what she looks like is far from the more interesting thing about her.

Amid all the chatter about her new look, the actor publicly advocated for body positivity and embracing all shapes and sizes. "There's an epidemic in our country of girls and women feeling bad about themselves based on what .5% of the human race looks like. It starts very young," she told Redbook. "My message is that as long as everybody's healthy, enjoy and embrace whatever body type you have," she added, while urging women to stop comparing themselves to one another.

The star was honest about allowing herself to enjoy her life while making healthier choices. She told Rolling Stone in 2017 of her looser approach to her new lifestyle, "I could eat healthier, I could drink less. I'm sounding like a lush, but, you know, I do what I can. I should be ... working out more, but I'm just always saying, 'Ah, I could get hit by a bus tomorrow.'"

Multiple celebrities have totally transformed after taking Ozempic or other GLP-1s, which may be why Barbra Streisand brazenly asked Melissa McCarthy if she'd used the medication often used to aid weight loss on Instagram in 2024. On a since-deleted photo shared to McCarthy's page showing her with director Adam Shankman, Streisand asked "The Boss" star (via Comments By Celebs), "Give him my regards did you take Ozempic?" Multiple fans called Streisand out for the overly personal question.

McCarthy — who looked nearly unrecognizable after her dramatic weight loss, like her "Bridesmaids" co-star Rebel Wilson — didn't publicly respond to the singer and actor's inquisitive comment, but she clearly saw the funny side. McCarthy shared an Instagram video of herself reading a copy of a Streisand magazine and told fans, "The takeaway? Barbra Streisand knows I exist. She reached out to me and she thought I looked good. I win the day."

After years of gradual weight loss, Melissa McCarthy got people's attention in 2025 when she proudly showed off her new figure in more form-fitting garments. At the American Museum of Natural History's 2025 Museum Gala, she wore a head-to-toe, gold sequin dress with a matching belt that highlighted her waist. After the actor shared a snap from the event on Instagram, the comment section was flooded with praise.

She then gave the world another look at her figure while hosting "Saturday Night Live," which also got social media talking. McCarthy wore a black velvet, bedazzled jumpsuit with an attention-grabbing belt, and plenty of fans commented on her obvious weight loss after the NBC show shared her opening monologue on Instagram. Though McCarthy didn't publicly confirm the exact amount of weight she'd lost, Entertainment Tonight reported the star may have shed up to 95 pounds since she began her journey 12 years prior.