The dark side of the A-list diet drug rush

It's the whispered-about weight loss jab that's been killing the appetites of celebrities and CEOs alike for months and now it has arrived in the UK. Libby Galvin investigates the craze

- Libby Galvin

DR SHAWANA Vali is shattered. It's the end of a busy day tending to patients. who see her at her invitation-only clinics, where she uses cutting-edge medicine to help an A-list roster of clients look and feel their very best. And right now, that includes prescribing a significant number of them the no-longer-so-secret weight-loss weapon of the rich and famous: semaglutide.

Elon Musk last month told his 116 million Twitter followers that the drug - sold under a number of brand names including Ozempic and Wegovy-was behind his recent slim-down. After a fan wondered "What's your secret... lifting weights? Eating healthy?" he responded with an honesty this is maybe uncharacteristic of celebrity. His two-word answer: "Fasting" and "Wegovy".

Not for him the usual platitudes about starting the morning with a hot water and lemon or "running around after the kids". But when the world's wealthiest man unabashedly reveals his new drug of choice, you can bet your bottom dollar the rest of the upper echelons are on it, even if they're a tad more discreet about the topic.

There are stage whispers from all corners that a stream of A-listers have the same prescription to thank for their new figures, and now the appetite-suppressing injection has hit British shores.

"I've seen it used in my clients, [who are] at the top five per cent of the world, for the last 18 months," says Dr Vali. She calls her method "biohacking", using a combination of treatments to give her patients the edge - contouring their bodies inside as well as out. Her techniques are so in demand that she's just opened an outpost at Selfridges. "My clients are top CEOs, members of royal families, people in the public eye, people under a lot of pressure," she says.