(Update June 27th: Star Jones has been fired from The View. See details below.)Star Jones will reveal her weight loss secret next week. She has lost about 150 pounds and lost it very quickly. A lot of people are speculating she did this with the help of weight loss surgery; a gastric bypass.
She doesn't say anything about how she lost the weight on her website, except to say that this has been the question of the year and that it will be answered in her book. She does say a little about her exercise routine however. She exercises at a private facility with a private instructor. She also practices Pilates.
Her book Shine : A Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Journey to Finding Love is supposed to tell everyone the secret of her weight loss. It is due to be released on January 6, 2006:
Update January 5th: People Magazine came out today with a great article and an excerpt from her book. She says she was over 300 pounds on her 41st birthday, and it was at this point, on a holiday with her girlfriends, that she decided to tackle her weight issue.
Just after she lost the first fifty pounds, she met her future husband Al. Starr Jones does say that she had a 'medical intervention' to help her start her weight loss but she refuses to specify what it was. She says she doesn't want to be a poster child for a procedure that could have tragic consequences for someone else. This is actually a very responsible stance for her. Don't you think?
Weight loss surgery is very risky health wise and Star Jones knows that other people will take heart from her method and will be more likely to consider a gastric bypass surgery if she tells the world that was the route to her success with weight loss. But just because it worked well for her doesn't diminish the serious risks of this kind of drastic medical procedure. So her preference is not to personally advertise this as a way to lose weight.
January 11th: Her book has been available for a few days at Amazon now. It's listed as the 103rd best selling book right now.
January 14th: The Times in New Jersey reported that Star Jones was in the Hamilton Wal-Mart last night autographing her book for hundreds of fans. This is her hometown. She grew up without a father and lived in a Trenton housing project. She went on to get a law degree from the University of Houston.
February 2nd: The View celebrated its 2,000th show today with co-hosts Barbara Walters, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones Reynolds, Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck celebrating the occasion along with Tom Selleck who was the first celebrity guest at the premiere in 1997.
February 20th: In a recent interview, Star noted her weight loss was not a quick process; "The media focuses on the last 50 lbs I've lost, suggesting it was fast. What they don't realize is it took more than 2 ½ years. Prior to meeting Al, I had lost 40 lbs. After marriage, I went on to lose another 120 lbs‚” .
Star says she has gone from a size 26 to a size 10 over these years.
May 10th: The strong rumor now is that Star Jones is leaving "The View" and that she will be replaced by Gayle King. Also a very strong rumor that Rosie O'Donnell's participation was always contingent on Star Jones Reynolds being asked to leave.
Update June 27th: Star Jones Reynolds told viewers of The View today that she is leaving the show. She has been fired after nine years as a cohost. Not fired exactly, but her contract was simply not renewed. See more updates here as more news comes in.
Here are Barbara Walters' cold as ice comments (June 28th) about Star Jones leaving the show. You can tell she is quite upset about being taken off guard the day before. She hasn't chosen a generous way to say goodbye to her co-host of nine years.
Here's the first video clip where Star Jones makes the surprise announcement (June 27th), live on The View. (Barbara Walters looks uncomfortable here.)
It looks like a lot of time and angst went into both these speeches, and that these two women have unresolved issues between them.
Update June 29th: Here's the Star Jones interview on Larry King.
Update August 7th: The divorce rumors are false. They've been circulating for at least a month now. Keep in mind that there is so much interest out there about Star Jones that any rumor is better than no news. Star Jones is justifiably upset about the media digging into her personal life in this kind of mean-spirited way.