“In a world of Ozempic jabs and ‘SkinnyTok’, Chelsea Lazkani’s weight gain comments are refreshing”
A year ago, Chelsea Lazkani was sparking conversations about her outfit choices and her shocking divorce – both of which became storylines on the last season of Selling Sunset. But following the release of series nine, which premiered earlier this week, Selling Sunset viewers are talking about something else entirely: Chelsea Lazkani’s weight gain. And the real estate agent is celebrating just that.
“I’m watching the new season of Selling Sunset, and I just wanted to tell you how amazing you look!” a viewer commented on one of Chelsea’s recent Instagram posts, as another agreed that the real estate agent looks “so much healthier”. It’s a topic that Chelsea herself hasn’t shied away from, either. Just a few months back, Chelsea said on X that she “no longer wants to look like a twig”.
In a different post, she described herself as “looking malnourished” before she gained weight, and in another, referred to herself as a “skeleton” after losing “so much weight while filming due to stress”. Her feed itself has had a transformation too, with images of high-fashion outfits and glamorous LA homes interspersed with muk-bang videos and fakeaway food recipes.
Everyone’s clicking on…
The celebration of Chelsea’s “big” body (as she puts it) feels refreshing, especially considering the pop culture climate of late. In recent years, there’s been a noticeable shift from welcoming body confidence at any size to praising shrinking frames, giving rise to influencers like Liv Schmidt, who makes thousands a month running her own ‘skinny club’ with ‘diet advice’ for those striving to be a smaller dress size. “The return of SkinnyTok is not nostalgia for Y2K thinness. It is a more insidious, algorithm-driven, pharmaceutical-backed system of body politics,” one person wrote on X, summing this all up perfectly. “The outcome is the same: bodies reduced to worth, health equated with thinness, and young people left negotiating impossible standards.”
Statistics back this line of thinking up. GLP-1 (AKA ‘the weight loss jab’) prescriptions on the NHS grew by over 700% from 2020 to 2025, while a social media study found that, despite moderation efforts to ban ‘SkinnyTok’ content, #thinspiration content was viewed over 5.4 billion times on TikTok in the first half of 2025. What’s more, 70% of users with a diagnosed eating disorder say influencer culture worsened their symptoms.
Taking this into consideration, seeing a famous face with and on such a big platform – Chelsea has almost a million Instagram followers, while Netflix has over 300 million paid memberships globally – speak so candidly and confidently about her weight gain feels like a step in the right direction. It challenges the notion that success, desirability, or self-worth must come packaged in a certain-sized silhouette, and reminds women that we can take up space, be that physically or literally.
That being said, Chelsea’s comments aren’t entirely free of red flags. Not every slim figure is a sign of restriction, struggle, or ‘malnourishment’, and there’s nothing wrong with being in a smaller body if that’s what’s healthy and balanced for that person. There’s also a point to be made about Chelsea branding her new body as “big”. Of course, what’s defined as a “big” body is entirely subjective, but most would agree that Chelsea’s current body remains on the slimmer side.
Still, Chelsea’s words – although arguably not perfect – reflect what so many of us are feeling: fatigue with the relentless pursuit (and praise) of thinness and, more importantly, a desire for a version of ‘health’ that’s more attainable and sustainable. For me, that’s why Chelsea’s ‘weight gain’ is resonating. It’s so refreshingly real.
If you’re worried about your own or someone else’s health, you can contact Beat, the UK’s eating disorder charity, on 0808 801 0677 or via beateatingdisorders.org.uk.
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Jade Biggs (she/her) is one of Cosmopolitan UK’s freelance writers, working across all sections including entertainment, beauty, body, and sex and relationships. She previously held the position of Features Writer, covering everything from breaking news and the latest royal gossip, to the health and fitness trends taking over your TikTok feed. Jade has a degree in journalism and has been a journalist and content editor for ten years, interviewing leading researchers, high-profile influencers, and industry experts in that time. She is a cat mom to four fur babies and is obsessed with Drag Race, bottomless brunches, and wearing clothes only suitable for Bratz dolls. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
