‘Your weight doesn’t define you’: Rebel Wilson and Adele speak out in same week amid scrutiny over weight loss

Rebel Wilson and Adele have both spoken out about their weight in the same week, following intense public and media attention on their appearances.

On Sunday 3 July, Wilson, 42, shared a photograph of herself in a pink swimsuit while on holiday, and used the post to send an important message to fans.

“I just noticed I put on 3kgs on my holiday. I’m at an amazing all-inclusive resort… I’ve lost all self-control,” the comedian and actor said.

“But you know what? I can get up tomorrow and go to the gym, and hydrate and eat healthy and love myself.”

She added: “It doesn’t help to be hard on yourself but I know what it’s like to feel guilty and not great after eating too much.

“But if you’re like me just know YOU are more than just your weight, your weight doesn’t define you.”

Wilson continued: “Just try your very best to be healthy and don’t be so hard on yourself. Be the best version of you.”

The Pitch Perfect star has spoken candidly about her weight loss since 2020.

Speaking to People in May, Wilson said she was told by a fertility doctor that she would have a better chance of harvesting and freezing her eggs if she lost weight.

Initially, she was “taken aback” by the doctor’s comments, but added: “He was right. I was carrying around a lot of excess weight. It’s almost like I didn’t think of my own needs. I thought of a future child’s needs that really inspired me to get healthier.”

Since then, Wilson has lost more than five stone (approximately 31kg).

On the same day that Wilson shared her Instagram post, Adele spoke out about her own weight loss and the intense public and media scrutiny around it.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs, the 34-year-old singer said she understood why there had been so much interest in her weight loss because she did not share her journey publicly “like everyone else does”.

Adele lost seven stone (approximately 44kg) in the two years leading up to her latest album release in 2021. Her changed appearance shocked many fans as she had been out of the public eye for most of that time.

“I felt terrible for some people that felt like other people’s comments meant that they weren’t looking good or that they weren’t beautiful,” Adele told host Lauren Laverne.

“Some of the ones I saw were young, they were like 15. And there were some other people who felt very betrayed by me, being like, ‘Oh, she’s given into the pressure of it’. Which didn’t really bother me because you aren’t holding my hand at 4am when I’m crying my heart out with anxiety and needing a distraction.”

Adele also addressed the negative reaction to her weight loss in an interview with Oprah Winfrey last year.

She made it clear that while she felt “bad that it’s made anyone feel horrible about themselves”, it was not her “job to validate how people feel about their bodies”.