10 Celebrities Who Had Gastric Sleeve or Weight-Loss Surgery (and 4 Who Didn't)

Kelly Osbourne is one of the most direct celebrities on this list about why she had surgery. In August 2020 she revealed she'd had a gastric sleeve two years earlier: "I had surgery. I don't give a f--- what anyone says.

I did it, I'm proud of it." She has said she lost 85 pounds — and was equally direct about what the surgery does and doesn't do: "All it does is change the shape of your stomach," and she completed a full year of therapy beforehand.

• Procedure: sleeve gastrectomy, 2018 (clinic not disclosed)
• Result (her account): 85 lbs lost over roughly two years

The Today show weatherman weighed 340 pounds when he had laparoscopic gastric bypass in New York in March 2002, a decision driven by a promise to his father: "You've got to be here for your children." He has said he lost around 100 pounds within nine months and has maintained most of that loss for over two decades — while being open that it took ongoing work: "There's no magic bullet."

• Procedure: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, New York, March 2002
• Result (his account): ~100 lbs lost in 9 months, largely maintained 20+ years later

Reality TV star Mama June documented her transformation on WE tv's From Not to Hot, with her gastric sleeve performed by Beverly Hills bariatric surgeon Dr. Michael Feiz. From a peak of 550 pounds, she weighed 311 on surgery day. "In six weeks, I went from 311 all the way down to 195," she said.

With later skin-removal surgery she reached about 160 pounds — and she has also been candid about subsequent weight regain and starting weight-loss medication in 2024, a detail worth including because it's an honest, complete picture rather than a before/after highlight reel.

• Procedure: sleeve gastrectomy, 2015, Dr. Michael Feiz
• Result (her account): 311 → 195 lbs in six weeks; lowest reported weight ~160 lbs

Sharon Osbourne had an adjustable gastric band fitted in 1999 and has said she lost about 125 pounds with it — then had it removed seven years later. What makes her account valuable is how honestly she connected the surgical and psychological sides of the experience: "I have to figure out why I do what I do to myself. I think I have some sort of self-destruction button."

• Procedure: adjustable gastric band, 1999; removed 2006 (locations not disclosed)
• Result (her account): ~125 lbs lost with the band

The Wilson Phillips singer had one of the most publicized bariatric surgeries in history: her August 1999 gastric bypass in San Diego was broadcast live online and reportedly watched by 500,000+ people. She has said she lost around 150 pounds afterward.

Following two pregnancies and subsequent weight regain, she had a lap-band fitted in January 2012, later navigating band complications before eventually having it removed.

• Procedure: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, San Diego, 1999; lap-band revision, January 2012
• Result (her account): ~150 lbs after bypass; ~30 lbs in the first months after the band

The Oscar-nominated Precious star had laparoscopic bariatric surgery in May 2016 after a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, performed by Dr. Bradley Schwack at NYU Langone's Weight Management Program in New York (per reporting on her memoir). Her framing was unapologetic: "I wasn't cheating by getting it done...

I did it so I can walk around comfortably in heels." She has deliberately kept her exact weight-loss numbers private, which is worth respecting rather than speculating about.

• Procedure: laparoscopic sleeve, May 2016, NYU Langone
• Result: undisclosed by choice

The American Idol judge weighed around 350 pounds before a type 2 diabetes diagnosis became, in his words, "the final straw." He had gastric bypass in 2003 and has said he lost over 100 pounds — and has spent two decades reminding people that surgery was only the start: "Weight loss surgery is not a magic bullet... The struggle continues. It never ends."

• Procedure: gastric bypass, 2003 (location not disclosed)
• Result (his account): 100+ lbs lost (~350 → ~220 lbs); largely maintained for nearly 20 years

The lawyer and former co-host of The View had gastric bypass at a New York hospital on 19 August 2003, weighing 307 pounds at the time — and kept it private for four years before writing about it in a 2007 Glamour essay: "How had I allowed myself to get to 307 pounds?" She has said she lost about 160 pounds over three years.

• Procedure: gastric bypass, New York, August 2003
• Result (her account): ~160 lbs lost over ~3 years

Multiple outlets (Page Six, Fox News, ET) reported that the best-selling female artist of all time had gastric sleeve surgery in Beverly Hills in October 2017, with follow-up reporting of 30+ pounds lost in the following months.

Important caveat: Mariah Carey has never personally confirmed this — her representative declined to comment at the time — so this entry is credibly reported, not self-disclosed, and we're flagging that distinction rather than presenting it as fact.

• Procedure: gastric sleeve (reported), Beverly Hills, October 2017
• Result: 30+ lbs reported lost

The former New Jersey governor's case is one of the best-documented in American politics: a roughly 40-minute lap-band procedure on 16 February 2013, performed by Dr. George Fielding, chief of NYU Langone's Weight Management Program. He checked in under a false name and kept it private for three months before going public.

"This is about turning 50 and looking at my children and wanting to be there for them," he said, adding — memorably — "It's nobody else's business."

• Procedure: adjustable gastric band, NYU Langone, February 2013
• Duration: ~40 minutes, outpatient

Worth stating plainly, because the internet gets this wrong constantly and it isn't fair to the people involved: Rebel Wilson (the Mayr Method diet plus exercise), Chrissy Metz (a 2,000-calorie diet and daily walking), John Goodman (sobriety, a Mediterranean-style diet and structured training), and Jessica Simpson (diet, walking and prioritizing sleep) have all discussed dramatic weight changes achieved without bariatric surgery.

Including this list isn't a footnote — it's part of giving readers an accurate picture instead of assuming every visible transformation means surgery.

Gastric sleeve surgery (sleeve gastrectomy) removes roughly 75-80% of the stomach laparoscopically, leaving a narrow "sleeve" that limits how much food you can eat at once. It typically takes 1-2 hours under general anesthesia, with a 1-2 night hospital stay, 2-4 weeks before returning to normal activity, and the major weight loss unfolding over 6-18 months — under a surgeon's ongoing follow-up.

That pattern is consistent across the public accounts above: Chris Christie's lap-band took about 40 minutes as same-day outpatient surgery, while the sleeve and bypass procedures generally involved an overnight hospital stay.

It is not a cosmetic procedure — it's a structural change to the digestive system, which is exactly why every credible account on this list, from Kelly Osbourne to Randy Jackson, includes some version of the same caution: the surgery changes your anatomy, but it doesn't do the work alone.

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) frames sleeve gastrectomy the same way in its own clinical care pathway — a tool used within a broader, supervised program of nutrition, activity and follow-up care, not a stand-alone fix (ASMBS Care Pathway for Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy, asmbs.org).

We are not going to promise you a number here. Every account above lost a different amount, on a different timeline, with different starting points and different follow-up care — and Mama June's later regain is a useful, honest reminder that results aren't guaranteed to be permanent without sustained lifestyle change.

Anyone telling you gastric sleeve surgery guarantees a specific result isn't being straight with you.

This is the part a lot of sales-first content skips, and it's the part that matters most.

Gastric sleeve surgery is generally considered for people with a significantly elevated body mass index, and often specifically for those who have tried structured non-surgical weight-loss approaches without lasting success. It is a permanent, irreversible change to your stomach's anatomy — unlike a lap-band, which (as Sharon Osbourne's and Carnie Wilson's stories both show) can be removed.

It requires lifelong follow-up: nutritional monitoring, vitamin supplementation in many cases, and ongoing changes to how and how much you eat.

It is not the right choice for everyone reading this article. It is not appropriate as a first-line response to modest weight goals, it is not a substitute for treating an underlying eating disorder, and it is not something a reputable clinic should offer without an in-person medical work-up — reviewing your health history, current medications, and any conditions that could complicate surgery or anesthesia.

If you're not prepared for a permanent anatomical change and years of follow-up care, or if a non-surgical approach (like the ones behind Rebel Wilson's or Chrissy Metz's transformations) hasn't genuinely been tried yet, gastric sleeve surgery may not be the next step for you — and a qualified surgeon should tell you that directly, in person, rather than a website telling you that you qualify.

That candor is also why NexWell doesn't diagnose candidacy remotely. A consultation with a board-certified bariatric surgeon, reviewing your full medical history, is the only way to know whether gastric sleeve surgery is appropriate for you. Cost is a real part of this decision for most people too, and it's worth being transparent about the numbers rather than vague about them.

Source: NexWell internal pricing data, verified 24 Jul 2026.

Starting from Turkey's $3,400 entry price, that's roughly 75-86% less than the typical US price — about 77% below the US low end ($15,000), and up to 86% below the top of the US range ($25,000). The exact percentage depends on which end of each range you're comparing, which is why we're showing you both ends rather than one flattering headline number.

Lower cost doesn't mean lower standards, and it shouldn't mean less follow-up. Whatever country you have surgery in, the fundamentals above still apply: verify your surgeon's board certification, ask exactly what's included in aftercare, and make sure long-term follow-up — not just the operation itself — is part of the plan.

If you want the full breakdown of what's included in a Turkey gastric sleeve package, see our gastric sleeve Turkey cost guide. For an overview of the procedure, recovery timeline, and how the process works end-to-end, see gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey.

This article was medically reviewed by Dr. Umut Rıza Gündüz, MD — a general surgeon based in Antalya with a high-volume focus on laparoscopic bariatric and metabolic surgery, including gastric sleeve and gastric bypass.

His review confirmed the clinical description of the procedure and its recovery pattern above; the celebrity accounts remain the individuals' own reported experiences, not clinical case studies, and are presented as such throughout.