Why I’m urging Kelly Clarkson and fellow shrinking celebs to stop hiding their use of weight loss drugs like Ozempic. As an anorexia survivor, I know how dangerous delusional diets can be

America’s first Idol – a liar?

After months of swallowing the truth, Kelly Clarkson’s secret is out. The slimmed-down singer-turned-TV host is taking weight loss drugs.

Now her legions of fans – and concerned public health experts – are asking: Why didn’t she just say that in the first place?

Back in January, Clarkson gave a long-awaited interview to People magazine as speculation swirled over her staggering body transformation – shedding more than 60 pounds in a matter of months.

She told the celebrity mag that her super-effective diet hack was simple: cutting carbs, eating more protein, walking and – uh – infrared saunas and cold plunges.

Weeks later, Clarkson revealed that she’d been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Her body was not sufficiently regulating blood glucose (blood sugar) and she was at risk of developing diabetes – a condition that affects nearly 40 million Americans and can lead to deadly heart and kidney damage.

But in all of Clarkson’s public remarks, the implication was: Weight loss drugs?!? Never, not me.

As a health editor, with nearly a decade of experience, I had my suspicions.

Rapid, dramatic weight loss is very difficult for 42-year-old women with bodies that birthed two children – unless modern medicine helps tip the scale.

Low and behold, my intuition was spot on.

On Clarkson’s talk show Monday, she told her guest Whoopi Goldberg that on the advice of her doctor, she had begun a course of weight loss medication.

‘My blood work got so bad,’ she confessed to Whoopi, who revealed she’s taking injectable medication to lose weight.

‘Everyone thinks it’s Ozempic, it’s not,’ Clarkson said. ‘It’s something that aids in helping break down the [blood] sugar, obviously, my body doesn’t do it right.’

Indeed, there are other medicines in the same family as Ozempic that can reduce blood sugar and spark weight loss by suppressing appetite. A drug called metformin is prescribed to diabetes patients.

Then there’s the other inconsistency in Clarkson’s story: That she was happy being overweight.

‘I never had a problem shutting people down and saying, ‘yeah, you know, that’s just what I’m rocking,’ she said in a 2017 interview.

Now, we’re told her weight triggered her pre-diabetes. No one would be happy about that.

But why the sudden sincerity? Had Clarkson also imbibed truth serum?

Insiders told DailyMail.com that Clarkson felt, ‘backed into a corner.’

‘Kelly couldn’t keep up her charade any longer,’ the source said. ‘She knew she had to get honest or she was going to be exposed.’

Perhaps, Clarkson was also embarrassed by the fact that she was relying on a drug that cost $1,000 per month without a prescription. The star has also spoken about her struggle with depression – which comes with a litany of complications.

But whatever the truth, it appears Clarkson hasn’t been completely forthcoming.

And she’s not the first.

 Longtime yo-yo dieter Oprah Winfrey was met with outrage in December after she admitted taking weight loss medication, having dismissed the drug as, ‘the easy way out’ just three months earlier.

My celebrity insiders tell me secretive use of the shots is rife among Hollywood royalty…but no one talks about it. 

But Clarkson, Oprah and the others must recognize how dangerous their dissembling can be for their admirers.

In my early 20s, I religiously followed the nutrition advice of wellness influencers and celebrities.

I thought that if I did as they did, I’d replicate their clean bill of health (and beauty).

Some claimed to have transformed their bodies with ‘simple’ swaps, like substituting pizza dough with baked cauliflower and replacing eggs with the liquid in canned chickpeas.

Gwyneth Paltrow recommended swapping potato chips for almonds that had been soaked in water for six hours.

I cut out the carbs, fat and, eventually, everything that wasn’t a vegetable, as per the gurus’ advice.

Within six months, I’d lost nearly 20 percent of my body weight and was admitted to the hospital with critical anorexia. My heart was at risk of shutting down. I was fed back to health over the course of my six-week stay.

Looking back now, it’s no surprise that two of my cherished influencers admitted to suffering from eating disorders just a year later. The nutrition plans that I’d been following were written at the height of their mind-warping disease.

Lying about taking a weight loss drug is not the same thing. But it does mislead devoted fans and impressionable women of all ages into thinking that dramatic weight loss is normal and easy.

Neither are true.

As they say, there are no shortcuts in life and even medication comes with dark downsides.

Clinical trials show around half of weight loss drug users experience at least one complication.

If you’re lucky, it’ll be nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. For the unlucky, it’s suicidal thoughts, thyroid cancer and gastroparesis – an agonizing and potentially life-threatening condition where the stomach becomes paralyzed.

Rapid weight loss – from Ozempic, bariatric surgery or starvation diets – cause muscle loss. For adults 65 or older, that can increase the likelihood of falls that can be fatal.

And finally, it’s still not clear that these drugs help keep the weight off for good. Recent studies suggest four years on the shots results in an underwhelming 10 percent weight loss.

So here’s my message to these suddenly shrinking celebs: You chose a life in the spotlight – that comes with responsibility. Be honest about your health journeys because your fans are watching – and, likely, taking notes.