Oprah Winfrey reveals ‘hurtful’ moment she felt ‘too fat’ to go out

Oprah Winfrey has told of the devastating fat-shaming moment she suffered at the height of her fame and her surprise medical condition.

Oprah Winfrey has revealed how she experienced the shame of feeling “too fat” at the height of her massive fame.

The superstar talk show host has famously battled weight issues and recently admitted that her latest shedding of the kilos was down to medication similar to Ozempic.

Winfrey, 70, said her new TV special, the State of Weight, had helped her discover she was suffering an actual medical condition that caused her to gain weight.

Oprah Winfrey is opening up about her weight loss journey. Picture: AFP

“There’s something in the brain that allows people like myself to metabolise fat differently than other people and no matter what I do, I’m always going to go back to the set point that my brain thinks it needs to hold the weight,” Winfrey told The Jamie Kern Lima Show podcast.

The star told of her secret shame in 1988 after what was then one of TV’s biggest moments.

Oprah Winfrey shows off her new figure in 1988. Picture: AP

The star says she crash dieted to lose weight.

Winfrey stunned viewers the world over when she dragged a wagon full of fat onto the set of The Oprah Winfrey Show to represent the whopping 30kg she had dropped using a liquid meal replacement diet.

Despite her newly svelte frame, Winfrey revealed in the podcast she still felt ashamed of her body and backed out of attending a party held by actor Don Johnson, who was then a Hollywood A-lister due to his role on the TV hit Miami Vice.

“I didn’t have a morsel of food in five solid months on Optifast. Three days later, I was five pounds heavier and a week later, I was 10 pounds (4.5kg) heavier,” she said.

“That show happened in November and the week before Christmas, I remember Don Johnson — the Don Johnson of Miami Vice — was having a party and invited me and some members of my show, and I wouldn’t go because I thought I was too fat to go.”

Oprah Winfrey’s weight has fluctuated over the years.

Winfrey told the podcast after she started to regain the weight she had lost on her crash diet, “the shame started again”.

A magazine cover that labelled her “dumpy, frumpy and downright lumpy” left the TV legend distraught and struggling with her body image.

The star is now in a happier place. Picture: Getty Images

“I ingested that. I swallowed it like it was a pill designed just for my body and I took in all the shame and I accepted that,” she said.

“Making fun of my weight was national sport for 25 years.”

However, now that she has turned 70, she is determined to let of the past and said weight loss medications had helped her maintain her size.

“I have used the medication. I use the medication as a maintenance tool,” she said.

“Now I have given up on a number, and I just go with how I feel. I just feel like it’s a tool that I will use if I feel myself getting beyond a certain point.”

It comes after Winfrey recently spent time in hospital due to gastroenteritis.

Her best friend, TV host Gayle King, concerned fans when she let it slip that the star had been suffering stomach issues.

Winfrey later downplayed the incident and said she was merely dehydrated due to a bout of gastro.

Originally published as Oprah Winfrey reveals ‘hurtful’ moment she felt ‘too fat’ to go out