Serena Williams reveals she uses GLP-1 weight loss drug Zepbound: 'I just could never get back to where I needed to be’

Serena Williams is opening up about her fitness journey, revealing that she uses the injectable GLP-1 weight loss drug Zepbound, combined with consistent exercise and a healthy diet.

The 23-time Grand Slam tennis champion, 43, told Today that she wants to be transparent about her weight loss, while also countering the negative perception of a GLP-1 treatment that it’s a lazy way to lose weight.

GLP-1 is short for glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, and it’s a type of medication that’s usually prescribed for diabetes, but is also used for weight management. The medication works in the brain to affect appetite and satiety.

“I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,” Williams told People this week. “So it was very frustrating to do all the same things and never be able to change that number on the scale or the way my body looked.”

The Olympic gold medalist told Today that after having her two daughters, Olympia in 2017 and Adira in 2023, “I was never able to be at a healthy weight that I could be at, whether it was my joints or blood sugar levels, it was just always something that I suffered with.”

The tennis star said no matter what she did, she always felt like her body was missing something. “I’m playing professional tennis, I’m literally training five hours a day, and I would always work my way to one point on the scale, and it would never go below that,” she explained.

When GLP-1’s first became available, Williams said to herself: “No way, no how, that’s not for me.”

But then her mindset changed, and she looked at weight loss as an opponent, just like in professional tennis. “I can’t beat this opponent, no matter what I do; I have to try something different. Tried something different, it didn’t work,” she recalled on the Today show. “I saw my friends using [GLP-1’s], saw a lot of people on it, and I tried it, and it actually worked.”

She told People that she has lost over 31 pounds since she used Zepbound for additional weight loss support.

Williams obtained the medication through Ro, which is a direct-to-patient health care company. She is now a celebrity patient ambassador for the company. Williams’s husband, Alexis Ohanian, also serves on its board and is an investor in the company.

“They were super supportive, and it was easy to get the medication,” Williams told People. While GLP-1 treatments have been approved by the FDA for weight management, and not just for diabetics, there are still some hurdles people have to overcome, like meeting certain BMI requirements, finding a licensed provider, or covering expensive out-of-pocket costs for the treatment if their insurance provider doesn’t cover weight loss treatments.

“GLP-1 helped me enhance everything that I was already doing — eating healthy and working out, whether it was as a professional athlete at the top level of tennis or just going to the gym every day,” she says. “So I think that it’s important for everyone to hear my story. And I feel like there's a lot of people that can relate.”

With her two daughters, Williams prioritizes conversations about body image and body positivity.

“With me going through what I've went through growing up in public and just having millions of people commenting on my body, it's really important to teach them to be confident at any size, just like I try to be,” she told People.

For now, Williams is taking the weekly GLP-1 injections and trains for a half-marathon (13.1 miles). She also continues to post selfies from the gym, her “favorite place to be.”