She did it her way.
Kathy Bates defended the methods she used to lose 100 pounds in a new interview with Variety.
“People say, ‘Well, it was the Ozempic.’ F–k you, it was the Ozempic!” the 77-year-old actress told the outlet.
“It took me years to do this,” Bates explained. “I got this diagnosis about diabetes — my father died of it; his mother died of it; one of my sisters is in peril. When they said ‘diabetes,’ I figured out what to do to slowly, over years, to lose the weight.”
Bates added, “And then when Ozempic came along, I was able to lose the last 15 to 20 pounds and keep it off.”
The Emmy winner pointed out the “juxtaposition” of “getting healthy” and the success of her hit CBS show, “Matlock,” happening at the same time “is just unbelievable.”
Bates confirmed last year that she lost 20 pounds on Ozempic and 80 pounds from changes to her lifestyle and diet over the last seven years.
In her Variety interview, Bates recalled a recent moment where she got overwhelmed at her body transformation as her new stylist gave her clothes to try on.
“She had a beautiful dress for me to try. I looked at it on the hanger, and I thought, ’That’s not gonna fit.’ I put it on, and it fit, and I just melted down,” Bates said. “I just started crying and crying.”
“I’m still figuring out what it’s like to be without all of that weight,” the Oscar winner continued. “What was it for? What was I hiding myself from? What are the emotions that are pouring out because I don’t have that armor? It just really surprised me, really shocked me.”
Bates, who was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 2017, previously clarified that she put in “hard work” to lose 100 pounds.
“There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic,” she told People last October, “but I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic. It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”
The “Titanic” actress admitted that she “ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem.”
“[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I’d seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation,” she explained. “One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight.”
Bates will get to show off her weight loss at the 2025 Emmy Awards airing Sunday. She is nominated for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for “Matlock.”
If she wins, Bates will make Emmys history as the oldest winner in the category.
“It’s a badge of honor,” she told Variety about her current career success. “It’s just the serendipity of all of it. I’ve never had any of this stuff happen before, where I’ve got five different designers sending dresses!”
