Serena Williams is speaking candidly about her struggle with weight and her decision to use weight-loss medication to "enhance everything" that she was already doing.

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The tennis star has been the topic of conversation recently due to the physical transformation she's been undergoing. Discussions escalated when Serena shared gym selfies on her Instagram in July, showing off chiseled abs, toned arms, and legs.

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Serena Williams / Instagram: @serenawilliams

Shocked by the change in her physical appearance, some people in the comments began accusing Serena of using Ozempic to help her achieve her new physique.

Serena Williams / instagram.com

Harsh reactions continued the more the married mother of two continued to post, including with her most recent set of pictures, where users suggested this transformation was Serena's way of glorifying "European beauty standards."

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Instagram: @serenawilliams

Responses like this flooded her comment section:

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Despite all of the criticism about her looks, Serena didn't publicly respond to any of it until now. During a recent interview with People, Serena revealed she's been taking a GLP-1 weight-loss medication, along with exercising to achieve her current form, and has since lost over 31 pounds.

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“I feel great,” Serena told People. “I feel really good and healthy. I feel light physically and light mentally.”

Serena Williams / instagram.com

She said her battle with her weight began after she gave birth to her first daughter, Alexis Olympia, in 2017, when her postpartum body arrived.

Serena Williams / instagram.com

“I never was able to get to the weight I needed to be, no matter what I did, no matter how much I trained. It was crazy because I'd never been in a place like that in my life where I worked so hard, ate so healthy, and could never get down to where I needed to be at.”

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“I had never taken shortcuts in my career and always worked really hard. I know what it takes to be the best,” the 23-time Grand Slam champion said. “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.”

Serena Williams / instagram.com

Serena added that after having her second daughter, Adira River, in 2023, she was able to lose a lot of weight quickly — two weeks to be exact — but she remained stagnant after that and was unable to "lose another pound."

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While the decorated Olympian has no problem maintaining a healthy lifestyle and workout regimen, she sought out help to lose the actual weight she couldn't seem to get rid of. For additional support, she began a GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists) treatment. Although Serena kept the name of the drug she's been using private, some popular brands include Ozempic and Mounjaro.

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“I did a lot of research on it. I was like, 'Is this a shortcut? What are the benefits? What are not the benefits?' I really wanted to dive into it before I just did it. They were super supportive, and it was easy to get the medication. I lost over 31 pounds using my GLP-1, and I was really excited about that weight loss.”

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Serena began the weekly injections of the drug six months after Adira was born and around the time she stopped breastfeeding in early 2024. Since taking the drug, Serena revealed she's never felt better.

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“I just can do more," Serena added. "I'm more active. My joints don't hurt as much. I just feel like something as simple as just getting down is a lot easier for me. And I do it a lot faster. I feel like I have a lot of energy, and it's great. I just feel pretty good about it.”

Serena Williams / instagram.com

“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. 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.”

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She said she's not trying to maintain a particular appearance, and believes there was nothing wrong with the size she was before. It just came down to what she actually wanted to look and feel like.

Serena Williams / instagram.com

“I've never felt that pressure to maintain a certain appearance,” she admits. “I always felt comfortable at any size, whether I was a lot heavier or not. I do feel like my body didn't like me at that weight. I had pain in my joints and pain in different areas just because of the extra weight that I'm not used to carrying since I had children.”

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“But the size I was before, there was nothing wrong with it. It's just not what I wanted to have,” she continues. “I just knew that I wanted to be where I personally felt comfortable.”

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Serena wants to continue to have conversations with her young daughters about body positivity and body image. “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. I was looking back at pictures, whether I was smaller or thicker, and at that moment I felt so confident. And I looked great, too. So I just think it's so important to love who you are. You'll never get that moment back. You don't want to judge yourself when you're just always showing up as your best.”

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You can learn more about Serena's weight-loss journey in her full People interview, as well as her collaborative video with the Ro healthcare company.

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Serena Williams / Instagram: @serenawilliams

Reactions to Serena's revelation, which she also discussed on the Today Show, have been pretty split:

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Serena Williams / instagram.com

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Well, I'm just happy she's feeling comfortable in her skin again!