♪ this is "nightline." >> phil: tonight, skinny confessions. >> i didn't want to show up at a party and see all my friends 20 pounds thinner. >> phil: ozempic changes their bodies then their relationships. >> your sex life. >> yeah. >> caliente. >> phil: some going from cloud

nine to divorce. >> if you had known your marriage might be a casualty, would you take those pounds back? >> phil: plus oprah's big announcement after recently revealing she's taken weight loss drugs. 10 million names. rare audio preserved across the generations of formerly enslaved americans heard now in their own words. >> i got my name from president jeff davis, president of the southern confederate. he owned my grandfather and my father. >> phil: the massive project to trace their lineage from that dark time in history to their families today. >> she told us how it was difficult, just being alive during that period. >> i used to dance, but i don't do it now. >> phil: the lessons those voices teach us about freedom. she may have only had 25 birthdays, but janet steckly turned 100 this leap day. severe plaque psoriasis let meo symptoms define me...

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♪ good evening and thanks so much for joining us. i'm philip off. today, oprah winfrey sent weight watchers stock prices tumbling when she stepped down as the company's spokesperson after confirming recently she's taken medication to lose weight. tonight, we look at the ups and downs of weight loss from prescription drugs like ozempic.

"real housewives" star heather gay says she's never been happier. for others, that journey has had some unforeseen twists. ears abc's deborah roberts. >> deborah: you represented body positivity. now some women are saying it's kind of a cop-out. >> yeah. like, i'm sold out, i've given up the banner of, you know -- >> deborah: "accept yourself." >> and it's disappointing to sad to know body positivity was all a big lie. because -- it's better to not be overweight. >> deborah: known for her fun-loving and bold personality, heather gay has cemented herself as a favorite on "the real housewives of salt lake city." >> the seats, prove, timeline, screen shots, [ bleep ] everything! >> deborah: lately, it's her changing appearance making headlines, that so-called ozempic look that's seemingly everywhere these days. >> everyone i knew was taking

these medications, losing weight. and just bragging about how great it was. and magical. >> deborah: one of your costars on the show made a joke about your designer outfit. >> i've never seen a horse get in a size 14. have you? >> deborah: pretty cutting. >> cutting. i've been called worse than size 14 gucci. i've been called a manatee, been called shrek, i've been called horrible things in private and public by my costars and by the general public. >> deborah: so heather tried something new. >> the latest game-changing weight loss drug. >> deborah: it's the drug that's taking hollywood and america by storm. ozem ozempic, originally meant to treat people with chronic medical conditions like type 2 diabetes. one of the biggest and most controversial weight loss crazes. >> television icon oprah winfrey revealing she's using medication for weight loss.

>> i think that we have this rise in this interest in anti-obesity medications that really came from social media and television. >> deborah: ozempic, mounjaro, experiencing a big surge in use for weight loss. first it changed their bodies. now it's changing their relationships. >> now that i've lost the weight, i want to experience more. i missed out on so much because i was so worried about my size. >> i don't have to shop at big and tall. >> deborah: for good -- >> sex life, caliente. >> deborah: the bad -- >> he wasn't noticing how happy i was with the weight loss. it really told me that i deserve something better. >> deborah: and all the fallout. if you had known that your marriage might be a casualty on this weight loss journey, would you take those pounds back?

some argue it's undoing decades of progress in the body posi positivity and fat acceptance movement. >> it is furthering the narrative that thinness is the goal. people don't need to be shamed about the size of their body. >> deborah: the pressure to be thin, experts say, can cause real damage. >> some of the content i see online regarding weight loss, it just feels off. often fat phobia is subtle or overtly within the conversation and just widely accepted. >> welcome to beauty lab and laser. this is the med spa where we say all the best, no b.s. >> deborah: after talking to her doctor, she took her first dose of semigluetide, the active ingredient. >> i didn't want all my friends 20 pounds thinner and be resentful. >> deborah: there was almost a pressure there to try it? >> absolutely. a pressure, and also just maybe a last hope, you know? >> what are the key side effects?

nausea is a component of the medications. followed by vomiting. potentially, constipation. some people san feel fatigue, tiredness. >> deborah: these drugs can have serious side effects, including risk of thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, and hospitalization. heather says she's treated differently now, better, both on screen and off. what do people start to say? >> "you look great, you look thin, what are you doing, are you on ozempic?" i started to feel seen for the first time. even after being on television, writing a "new york times" best-selling book. for the first time i was being valued by my castmates, by the public, in a way that i had never been valued before. and that felt, to me, sad. >> i think it is important to recognize that looks and identity can be interwoven. if you change your look so much that you feel like a different person, then your identity is

changing. >> unfortunately, when we're dealing with obesity, often there is an overlay of mental health disorder or maybe some issues with disorder eating may emerge. i want to make sure i'm not doing that in this process. there may be issues with body dysmorphia. >> deborah: societal pressure to be thin is leading many to take these medications off h-label wn it's not necessary. >> i am very adamant to not prescribe these medications in people that are solely using these for aesthetic purposes. i really believe that this supports disordered eating, eating disorders. >> deborah: there's been a more than 930% increase in patients getting prescription semiglutide in the past four years. >> we need to be thoughtful and

mindful about this. we have a shortage of these medications for people that do need them. >> deborah: after losing close to 30 pounds, heather says there's a lesson in all of this. not just for her, but also for her daughters. so what does that say to your daughters, though? you've tried to teach them, you said, to love themselves. but you've been able to really finally accept yourself as a smaller person because of a drug. so what does that say to them? >> i want them to feel empowered, but as a mom of daughters, it is a very nuanced razor's edge. because i don't want to lie to them and say, it doesn't matter, what matters is on the inside. but it does matter. i don't know why that's the way it is in the world. but that has been my experience. >> deborah: that's a tough message. >> it's a tough message, and i don't know how to deliver it to them. i have beautiful, vibrant, empowered daughters. and i would hate for them to

think that their value is limited to their dress size. >> phil: our thanks to deborah. the full episode of "the skinny confessions after ozempic" is now streaming on hulu. when we return, voices of those formerly enslaved speaking to generations. to help protect from hiv. i prep without pills. with apretude, a prescription medicine used to reduce the risk of hiv without daily prep pills. with one shot every other month, just 6 times a year. in studies, apretude was proven superior to a daily prep pill in reducing the risk of hiv. you must be hiv negative to receive apretude and get tested before each injection. if you think you were exposed to hiv or have flu-like symptoms, tell your doctor right away. apretude does not prevent other sexually transmitted infections. practice safer sex to reduce your risk. don't take apretude if you're allergic to it or taking certain medicines, as they may interact. tell your doctor if you've had liver problems

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partner of "the 10 million names" project established to unearth the names and stories of those who were enslaved, connect them to their descendents, and restore them to history. here's abc's alex presha. >> i got my name from president jeff davis. president of the southern confederacy. he owned my grandfather and my father. my grandfather was a blacksmith. >> reporter: you're listening to the voice of a formerly enslaved american, a man by the name of george johnson. this rare and historic audio interview was recorded in 1941, almost 80 years after mr. johnson gained his freedom. do we know roughly how many of these recordings exist? >> the recordings are relatively rare. but the recordings come from a much larger and really important and in many ways unsung collecting effort. in terms of audio technology, most of it was not recorded by audio because the technology

didn't exist. so it's really just a handful of audio recordings. >> reporter: dr. kendra field, chief historian of the "10 million names project," and harvard professor vincent brown explain. the firsthand accounts shedding light on the darkest chapters of american history, yet revealing incredible african american strength and survival. "the 10 million names" project is a moonshot endeavor that aims to use the power of ancestry research to identify the names of 10 million men, women children who were enslaved in the united states. >> i didn't do nothing but work in the field. worked in the field, goodness. >> reporter: celia black, at the age of 114 years old, shortly before her death, recalled picking cotton in texas as a child born into slavery. >> me and my husband would go out, go out west and pick

cotton. go out west every year. >> one of the things that struck me when you have an interview recorded in 1974, for some black americans, they're one generation removed from slavery. >> in some ways, we think of slavery as ancient history. i was 6, 7 years old in 1974. it was kind of amazing we were alive at the same time. >> alex haley's "roots" premiered on abc three years after this interview with celia black. >> what's your name? >> kunta. kunta kinte. >> alex haley came into his work through his grandmother's stories. we're talking about at this point in the 1970s. >> didn't you have entertainment or anything? >> oh, i used to dance. but i don't do it now. >> reporter: you hear those recordings. what were the emotionth when you hear the recollections of a celia black? >> first, it's just the miracle of her survival. it's just that i'm actually hearing this person who had been

enslaved. that's kind of a miracle. >> reporter: celia black was alive when abraham lincoln was president and lived to see the resignation of president richard nixon. >> they thought abraham was the best. they thought everybody thought abraham was the best president there was. >> reporter: the goal is to put names and faces on this vital history. not only to give the enslaved the dignity they deserve, but to connect those living today with their family story. with the help of the "10 million names" genealogist, we were able to find the direct descendents of celia black. in rhode island, 68-year-old curtis royal who spent time with her as a young man. >> she's my great grandmother. >> reporter: do you remember any of the stories she would tell? >> she told us about how difficult it was, just being alive during that period. and of course, she would tell us a story about the big ox that

they had. >> my grandfather had some big old oxen. he had one that -- big with wide horns. oh, looked like a house. >> reporter: was it difficult to talk about slavery? >> yes. and i think what made it so difficult is it just -- realizing, you know, how emotional it was and what they went through. you know, you try to put yourself in their physical being and to understand what they went through. and it's -- you know -- it is scary. >> since we launched "10 million names" last summer, we've received hundreds and hundreds of messages and notes from individuals across the country. we encourage anyone that wants to get involved to reach out. >> reporter: who stands the most to gain from hearing these? is it black folk? is it americans as a whole? >> if we're going to understand anything about freedom, we're

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♪ >> phil: finally tonight, we celebrate with all those leap year babies. for those called leaplings, happy once every four years birthday. >> i'm excited. i'll be 13. >> you will be 13? >> i'll be 13. >> you look great. >> not even old enough to get a lerner's permit. >> i'm not old enough to drink.

>> phil: 100-year-old janet stoeckley's secrets to getting to 25. >> enjoy what you have coming, and take advantage of the advantages you have. >> phil: happy birthday to all the leaplings. that's "nightline." you can watch all our full episodes on ewe lieu. we'll see you right back here the same time tomorrow. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. hi, i'm angela bassett. and i'm so excited that 911 is coming to abc this march. here's a look at our new season.