{"id":60515,"date":"2026-08-10T16:42:35","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:42:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/?p=60515"},"modified":"2026-08-10T16:42:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:42:35","slug":"weight-loss-company-makes-gross-claims-theyll-help-love-island-usas-melanie-drop-15-lbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/10\/weight-loss-company-makes-gross-claims-theyll-help-love-island-usas-melanie-drop-15-lbs\/","title":{"rendered":"Weight loss company makes gross claims they&#8217;ll &#8216;help Love Island USA&#8217;s Melanie drop 15 lbs&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A weight loss company called Start Willow is getting loads of backlash after telling <a href=\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/05\/melanie-is-following-all-her-love-island-usa-co-stars-but-one-in-brutal-snub\/\">Love Island USA&#8217;s Melanie<\/a> they can help her lose several pounds. She just left the dating show with <a href=\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/06\/04\/love-island-usa-star-sincere-rheas-ex-girlfriends-are-piping-up-about-what-hes-really-like\/\">Sincere Rhea<\/a>, which people aren&#8217;t pleased about, and now this company is chiming in.<\/p>\n<p>Basically, an advert has been going round all weekend which states: &#8220;Melanie, you may not be able to drop that man, but we can help you drop 10-15lbs in 4 weeks. Call us, Start Willow.&#8221; Um, what?! And of course, Love Island USA viewers are giving the company backlash.<\/p>\n<p>In response, Melanie was iconic by sharing a photo of herself eating pepperoni pizza to her Instagram Story. One person wrote, &#8220;I get it&#8217;s their brand but who in their right mind thought targeting a public figure to have weight loss would be good.. it\u2019s extremely gross.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Uhm this is the most disgusting marketing ad I\u2019ve seen recently!! Why is a brand telling Melanie she needs to loose weight?? Like insane and they should apologize ns <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RMSEmreSgH\">pic.twitter.com\/RMSEmreSgH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 M_ttamara (@M_ttamara) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/M_ttamara\/status\/2085933899725635792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>When Melanie first joined the dating show, it was revealed she used to be a plus size model, which everyone was shocked about. Melanie\u2019s cousin has spoken about her modelling career. She confirmed that yes, it is Melanie in those videos from Miami Swim Week.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/06\/11\/melanies-cousin-slams-love-island-usa-viewers-for-their-reaction-to-her-plus-size-modelling\/\">She commented<\/a>: \u201cMelanie is my little cousin and I can tell you it is her!! And no Ozempic. She worked hard to get her current body!!! She wasn\u2019t insecure when she was plus size, and she\u2019s not insecure now. People are allowed to change, grow, and become healthier.&#8221;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"instagram-media\" style=\"background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);\" data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbrlxXGFFuW\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div style=\"padding: 16px;\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 19% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-top: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;\">View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 12.5% 0;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;\">\n<div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: 8px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-left: auto;\">\n<div style=\"width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;\"><a style=\"color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DbrlxXGFFuW\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A post shared by MELANIE MORENO \u2671 (@melanieelisa)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script>\u00a0Her cousin said she shouldn&#8217;t have to justify it and said: &#8220;Her confidence didn\u2019t come from her size, it came from knowing her worth. Melanie also told <a href=\"https:\/\/voyagela.com\/interview\/daily-inspiration-meet-melanie-elisa-moreno\/\">Voyage LA<\/a>, \u201cI gave up on my dream was because I had this belief I had to look perfect to get into the business.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I thought I needed a specific look or a specific body type. Little did I know, I was wrong. I tried for nine years to get scouted and signed, but I still truly believe I was found at the perfect time. My childhood dream finally became a reality this year when I was signed,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Reality Shrine has contacted Start Willow for comment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><i>For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates \u2013 like <\/i><i><span draggable=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Reality Shrine<\/a><\/span><\/i><i> on <\/i><i><span draggable=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/realityshrineofficial?rdid=TzQu2kEd2cUqU4rD&amp;share_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fshare%2F14zX5cKubf%2F#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Facebook<\/a><\/span><\/i><i>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melanie posted a photo eating pizza in response<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249734182,"featured_media":60517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1358],"tags":[1473,1710],"class_list":["post-60515","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-love-island-usa","tag-trending"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/10\/weight-loss-company-makes-gross-claims-theyll-help-love-island-usas-melanie-drop-15-lbs\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Weight loss company makes gross claims they&#8217;ll &#8216;help Love Island USA&#8217;s Melanie drop 15 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