Jonathan Van Ness Says He's on Weight-Loss Medication to Control His Binge-Eating Disorder: 'I Have a Confession to Make'

Jonathan Van Ness is opening up on how weight-loss medication has been helping his binge-eating disorder.

In a TikTok posted Wednesday, Jan. 8, the Queer Eye star, 37, revealed how taking medicine meant to assist with weight loss has helped him in other areas of his life.

“Alright, I have a confession to make. Yes, I am on a GLP-1 for a weight-loss medication,” Van Ness said.

According to the Mayo Clinic, GLP-1 can “mimic the way a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 works in the body. When blood sugar starts to rise after a person eats, these medicines cause the body to make more insulin. The extra insulin helps lower blood sugar.”

They are commonly used by people who are diabetic.

Related: Jonathan Van Ness ‘Almost Got Gout’ by Eating ‘So Much Crab Legs’ During Queer Eye Season 9 in Las Vegas (Exclusive)

Van Ness said that anyone who has been following him for a while knows “that I gained and lost weight several times very publicly.”

“And this time in my life, I knew that I needed a little bit of extra help,” he said.

“With everything I’ve been through publicly and privately in the last couple years, I gained quite a bit of weight, wasn’t feeling good," Van Ness continued. "The most important thing was, my binge-eating disorder was out of control."

The hairstylist said he was “consistently making decisions” he “regretted with compulsive eating, with binging” and that the process would leave him feeling “really not good, depressed and out of control.”

Van Ness spoke with his doctor about it, and they decided to try different forms of GLP-1s, he said. They ended up trying shots, as the medicine is also available in the form of a pill.

“And I gotta tell you, this was back in September, it felt immediately better,” he said.

“I, for the first time in my life, got control over my food intake. It helped me so massively, and that’s part of why I wanna be honest with you about it because I know how important asking for help is, and how much asking for help can change your life in terms of healing,” the Netflix star continued.

He added: “I needed help.”

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Van Ness wrapped up his video by sharing that his Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness podcast would soon be featuring board-certified surgeon and weight loss procedure expert Dr. Terry Simpson, “who is a really cool person on TikTok.”

“I got so many questions, so we will be revisiting this,” he said. “We love you, I love you, and thank you for listening, and I wish you all have a good day.”

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