Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager praise Kelly Clarkson for weight loss 'transparency'

Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager are praising Kelly Clarkson for her “transparency” about her weight loss.

Clarkson, 42, recently shared on “The Kelly Clarkson Show” that she has been taking medication as part of her weight loss journey.

On TODAY with Hoda & Jenna Tuesday, Hoda spoke warmly of Clarkson for being “as transparent as they come” about her experiences, but also noted that the singer isn’t required to share anything publicly about her body transformation.

“She gets to lose weight any way she wants to lose weight,” Hoda said. Jenna agreed that Clarkson’s weight loss is ultimately no one’s business but Clarkson’s.

“I just think it’s so interesting that people feel like they’re owed explanations,” Jenna said.

At the same time, Jenna said she completely gets why some people in the public eye choose to be open about their weight loss. “It’s a hard journey for a lot of women to talk about their bodies and their weight, and I know that there’s this huge movement,” she said.

“I mean, Oprah did a whole special about what it is to have issues with this,” she added, referring to Oprah Winfrey’s recent TV special about the growing popularity of using medication to aid weight loss.

Hoda also said she had noticed an overall shift in Clarkson, who tapes her daytime talk show across the way from TODAY’s studios in New York City.

“I mean, I don’t think she’s ever been happier or healthier,” Hoda said, “and we get to witness it, like, right across the street every day.”

On her talk show on May 13, Clarkson revealed she had taken medication as part of her weight loss journey.

She did not share what medication she is taking, but specified that it is not Ozempic.

Ozempic is a prescription medication approved to treat Type 2 diabetes. Weight loss is one of its common side effects, so it is often used off-label as a weight loss aid.

Novo Nordisk, the company that makes Ozempic, previously told TODAY.com in a statement that they “do not promote, suggest or encourage off-label use of our medicines.”

Clarkson said she had been reluctant at first to take medication as part of her weight loss journey, but reconsidered after her doctor “chased me for like two years.”

“My heaviest, I was like 203, and I’m 5 foot 3 and a half,” Clarkson also said. “It’s funny because people assume, ‘Oh, she must’ve been miserable, depressed, whatever,’ and I was like, ‘No, I was not.’”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com