I read a snoop about Real Housewife Teddi Mellencamp requesting weight loss medicine from her oncologist and being denied it to then see the dramatic body transformation of Orange County Housewife Emily Simpson on Instagram (link below) I’ve probably watch it 25 times where husband Shane does the big reveal from April 2025 to a virtually unrecognisable Emily in April 2026.

Like many I am a fan of the Bravo Franchise and have been following Emily since she joined the orange county cast for season 13 which premiered in 2018.

By 2020 she had slimmed down significantly saying she was much happier with her 30lb reduction she put down to working out with a trainer and a much healthier and more disciplined routine, working out 3 days a week. No surgery or assistance/intervention just hard work. She said she was finally feeling like herself again that was back in 2020.

But clearly it wasn’t enough.

I remember watching episode 10 season 18 5 years later when Heather gave Emily a size 12 dress to wear triggering her insecurity about her weight once more. Emily brought her own clothes for a portion of the charity fashion show when she was the only one in jeans and tackled Heather about the larger clothes she was given to wear as being offensive.

She told People magazine

“I actually had a little moment where I went into the bathroom and I actually cried a little bit because I felt singled out” “ I felt like I was the girl that couldn’t fit into the pants that everyone else had on. It really killed me.”

When it comes to designer clothes we all know if you are bigger than a size eight, no one can fit into them. Have you watched Devil Wears Prada where Anne Hathaway is told by Nigel, Stanley Tucci at a US size 6 (a UK 10) there’s nothing in the runway closet to fit her. The fashion reality.

When Emily joined the cast of Real Housewives of Orange County I thought it was good to see some contrast from super Hollywood skinny Heather Dubrow and pocket rocket fitness queen Tamra Judge. Shannon Beador has long had a love affair with Spanx which she openly admits going no where without, refusing to don a bathing suit in episodes unhappy with stress related weight gain attributed to her turbulent love life and concerns over her drinking to cope.

Whilst Jen has been fat shamed on the show and with her body building fitness boyfriend Ryan shed pounds before joining the cast, showing off her muscular close to perfect size 4 body after a weight loss journey herself, Gina seems comfortably maintaining her new more svelte physique after revealing she’s lost over thirty pounds as well.

Once again the pressure to be maybe thinner than nature intended, especially after popping out a few kids appears to be mounting in the Bravo halls.

There was certainly a lot of talk online about Emily Simpson either being fired or about to fired from the show. It’s unlikely that will be happening as she has now ramped up her press and profile with the new and improved Ozempic body.

She looks great and I am not down on her for using the weight loss injections, that’s her business. My only question is where does it all stop.

Here in the UK we’ve seen celebrities like Sharon Osbourne speak out about the injection Ozempic saying she lost 42lbs and it was too much. The side effects were too much and despite saying she’d probably gain all the weight back she stopped using the drug. Her daughter Kelly and glamour model Katie Price have both denied taking the medication even though it has been suggested their dramatic weight loss may be attributed to this.

When Dolores Catania Real Housewives of New Jersey admitted to using Ozempic on Watch what happens Live, the Housewives star chatting with honorary alumni Andy Cohen back in April 2023, openly said she had been taking Ozempic.

“What housewife isn’t on Ozempic?” Cohen mused,

“Not one … I wasn’t going to come to (the) reunion looking bigger than anyone else, so I got on the bandwagon,” she said.

And I think here lies the problem. And maybe why Emily Simpson jumped on the bandwagon too.

So many big names in Hollywood have spoken up in favour of the drug and the positive mental impact it has had on them from Oprah Winfrey to Whoopi Goldberg but like with any medication there are long term side effects to consider and come off the medication and expect the weight to come back. This medicine designed to treat type two diabetes is medicine for life.

It seems to be a vicious cycle for women especially, made even more heightened with a job on TV where the way you look is perpetually scrutinised and discussed. If you want to take Ozempic to help you lose weight knock yourself out. I just worry about the message these global influencers and ambassadors are putting out there. And if you need a drug to help you limit your calorie intake to a level where you feel you can compete with your co workers taking up less room on that reunion sofa then maybe we all need to rethink how far we expect these women to go to entertain us.

I am not saying stuff yourself, discipline is good but craving food happens when we don’t feel centred, full up and calm. Maybe less Ozempic and more “My body is my temple” mindset would help ease the cravings and alcohol bingeing used to ease stress but that ultimately puts weight on. Cortisol the stress hormone causes weight gain by increasing appetite, triggering cravings for high-calorie "comfort" foods, promoting visceral fat storage (especially in the abdomen), and slowing down metabolism. Chronic stress elevates this hormone, leading to increased insulin levels, which promotes fat accumulation.

Perhaps less worrying about being too fat and more action to reduce the stress caused by being on a show like the Real Housewives is the way to go. Long term health implications of a drug like Ozempic no one really knows what they might be and as a viewer I’d much prefer seeing someone like Emily model doing things the hard way, like she has done in her career and why for me she was actually a breath of fresh air when she joined the show in the first place; not like all the others.

Clearly the pressure to be really thin got too much, not that I think she looks bad now, she doesn’t, tall and very slim or am I judging her, like I said she’s one of my favourites for her stand alone common sense approach.

I am just sad the job and need to fit in and be like everyone else got to her. And I hope as she said it was just a 30 day kickstart, she stops now (isn’t addicted to the results) and doesn’t end up going too far.

Smoking makes you thin by increasing your heart rate and metabolism and curbing your appetite and we all know there isn’t a doctor on the planet that would hand over a packet of fags as a prescription for weight loss. Personally I’d be more inclined to light up than take Ozempic but just call me old fashioned.