Rosie O’Donnell Reveals How She Was Scared Into Losing Weight

Talk about a wake-up call! Comedienne Rosie O’Donnell was happy and energized at last night’s National Women’s History Museum Honors in Beverly Hills. But a year ago, the former talk show host was in a fight for her life.

“It has been a quite eventful year and a half,” Rosie told the crowd at last night’s event. She is of course talking about the heart attack she suffered in August of last year. Rosie admits that she didn’t care about her health before the heart attack happened.

“I pretended I didn't have a body. Stuff was done to my body when I was younger, it didn't make me want to look at it. I tried to make it as big as I could and unattractive,” the comedienne said. “I had people saying to me, you should really lose weight and take care of yourself, and I was like, what the hell?”

But a run-in at a mall parking lot opened her eyes. “There was a woman in a stall in a handicap spot and…she was stuck in the car. She was maybe 400 pounds and I remember thinking, this is the ghost of Christmas future if I don't start taking care of myself,” she said.

It was after helping the woman out of the car that Rosie began to feel achy and nauseous. Forty-eight hours later, she was in the hospital after suffering a heart attack. And suddenly the weight had become an issue that she couldn’t ignore any longer.

“After this happened, I realized, it's time to take care of me,” the TV personality said. And she’s begun to do just that by losing 35 pounds. “I am feeling good,” she says.