Star Jones had Gastric Bypass Surgery in 2003 and lost 160 pounds. What made a lot of people angry was that she originally lied about having the surgery. Star later told Oprah that she was 307 pounds (Star is 5’5) and had been clinically diagnosed as morbidly obese when she decided to undergo the surgery in 2003. It took her 3 years to acknowledge that the 160 pounds that she had lost was due to the surgery and not diet and exercise as she had claimed. By that time she had lost the trust of her audience and she was eventually let go from The View in 2006 because she had become so unpopular. Star admits that not telling the truth was a big mistake, but she says that she lost her confidence when she was morbidly obese, and it took a while for her to gain it back. She says that she was genuinely happy and confident when she started The View, but that changed as she started to gain even more weight.
Star Jones from Before and After
Star Jones weight loss
Star Jones
Star Jones 160 pounds
Jones decided to talk to her fans about the surgery because she wants women to understand the toll that extra pounds can take on the heart. Nine years after a gastric bypass surgery that may have saved her life, Star Jones tried to explain to her fans why she kept the weight-loss surgery so private for so long.
“It really ticked them off,” Jones told TODAY’s Matt Lauer. “Because I was so public with all other aspects of my life I think the audience felt betrayed in some way. And I completely understand that. The reason I say I don’t regret that, Matt, is it really worked for me. It allowed me to get emotionally safe and secure.”
Star Jones in 2004 and 2014
Back in 2003, Jones decided she had to take control of her weight. She’d been heavy all her life, but by then her weight had climbed to over 300 pounds. “I wasn’t full-figured,” she said. “I wasn’t plus-size. I was morbidly obese. I never thought I would be in front of a camera and say those words. I was morbidly obese.”
Star Jones
As the pounds kept piling on Jones began to fear for her health – and her life. Star said in the article that the surgery saved her life, and it is very possible that it did. Whether dieting and exercising the weight off would have been healthier for her is debatable. I, personally, think it would have been and would have led to longer lasting results.
