Star Jones to Oprah: "I'm Still 300 Pounds In My Head"
Apr. 1 2009, Published 10:15 a.m. ET
Star Jones is speaking out -- with candor -- about losing a staggering 160 pounds.
Jones -- who appears Wednesday in a taped episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show -- denies she took the easy way out by undergoing gastric bypass surgery. She also says doctors told her she would die if she did not lose weight.
"I'm still 300 pounds in my head some days," Jones told Winfrey.
Jones admitted she was scared to disappoint people and ashamed that she wasn't able to control her weight.
"I was an addict for all practical purposes, that I had never stuck to a real diet, that I'd never stuck to a real exercise program, and that when confronted by my doctor and the doctor said if you don't make changes, you will die. I had no choice." Jones said. "When you hear people say, oh, you took the easy way out, I would have longed for an easy way. It was not an easy way. It was this -- the hardest struggle of my whole entire life and I still struggle."
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Jones also responded to remarks by former View co-host Barbara Walters that after the surgery, the show's audience couldn't relate to Jones anymore.
"I was hurt and upset initially," Jones said. "I'm so sorry that I placed a burden on my colleagues. I never asked them to lie."
Jones' appearance is part of a show on losing weight in the public eye. Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond will appear on Wednesday's show. (Photo: WENN)