‘Funny fat girl’ Rebel Wilson’s team didn’t want her to lose weight
Rebel Wilson’s management team initially wasn’t supportive of the actress’ 2020 fitness journey that ultimately saw her lose over 70 pounds.
“I got a lot of pushback from my own team actually, here in Hollywood, when I said, ‘OK, I’m going to do this year of health. I feel like I’m really gonna physically transform and change my life,'” the “Pitch Perfect” star, 41, told the BBC on Monday.
“And they were like, ‘Why? Why would you wanna do that?'” she recalled. “Because I was earning millions of dollars being the funny fat girl and being that person.”
But Wilson knew she wanted to reshape her relationship with food, saying that while she was comfortable with her weight, she knew her eating habits were problematic.
“I knew deep down inside that some of the emotional eating behaviors I was doing [were] not healthy. Like, I did not need a tub of ice cream every night,” she admitted. “That was me kind of numbing emotions using food, which wasn’t the healthiest thing.”
She added, “I think it was dealing with not being a natural performer and having to perform every day and that pressure and internal stress to be able to perform like that.”
Wilson has acknowledged that she understands why the public is “obsessed” with her weight loss, as she once paid close attention to Oprah Winfrey’s own journey.
“Oprah is one of my heroes,” she told the Daily Telegraph’s Stellar in October. “She’s certainly struggled with eating issues, and I would always watch her episodes when she spoke about that.”
The Aussie star has also opened up about wanting to focus on her health and fitness in order to increase her chances of getting pregnant.
“It first started when I was looking into fertility stuff, and the doctor was like, ‘Well, you’d have a much better chance if you were healthier,’” she said on Instagram Live in July.
Wilson was initially offended that her doctor would suggest she lose weight because she believed herself to be “pretty healthy,” but after giving it some thought, she realized she should shape up in order to try to start a family.
“That’s kind of what started it, that if I lost some excess weight that it would give me a better chance for freezing eggs and having the eggs be a better quality,” she said. “It wasn’t even really myself; it was more thinking of a future mini-me, really.”
Wilson first opened up about her fertility struggles in May, writing on Instagram, “To all the women out there struggling with fertility, I feel ya. The universe works in mysterious ways and sometimes it all doesn’t make sense … but I hope there’s light about to shine through all the dark clouds.”
The “Isn’t It Romantic” star started shedding weight in January 2020 when she announced that she was embarking on a “year of health.” She hit her goal weight that November by switching up her exercise routine and eating healthier.
Since then, Wilson has proudly shown off her fit figure by posting thirst traps to social media.
Wilson has been living her best single life following her breakup with her boyfriend of six months, Anheuser-Busch heir Jacob Busch, in February.
