WeightWatchers, the dieting giant that rebranded as WW in 2018, is preparing to file for bankruptcy, according to reports. The company is struggling with more than $1.4bn (£1bn) in debt and may hand control to creditors if negotiations with lenders and bondholders fail.
The financial troubles come as the rise of weight loss injections such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro has transformed the diet industry. Professor Tim Spector of King’s College London said the company’s calorie-counting approach “is largely snake oil” and that the effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs has shown the importance of appetite control.
Spector criticised the traditional ‘eat less, exercise more’ advice, arguing that restricting calories increases appetite and that quality of food is crucial. He noted that WeightWatchers meetings, once a mainstay of community halls, have declined in relevance as drugs offer a more effective solution for many.
Oprah Winfrey, WeightWatchers’ most famous ambassador, left the board last year after revealing she had been using weight loss medication, causing a near 20% drop in shares. The company did not comment on the bankruptcy reports but its former chief executive had compared adapting to the new Ozempic era to Netflix shifting from DVDs to streaming.
Meanwhile, the NHS offers a groundbreaking diet programme based on research by Professor Roy Taylor, which uses slimming shakes to limit calories to 800 per day for three months, helping reverse type 2 diabetes in some patients.
