Comonte was appointed interim chief executive in September 2024, after WeightWatchers\u2019 share price crashed 97 per cent in three years, and her role was made permanent last February. On a recent trip to London, the 52-year-old who grew up in Scotland and has lived in the US for 18 years, is personable and chatty, talking about family (she has three children and so does her long-term partner).<\/p>\n
She acknowledges the company lost its way in recent years, as dieting became a dirty word during the body positivity movement, which encouraged people to be healthy at any size.\u00a0WeightWatchers changed its name to WW in 2018,\u00a0intending\u00a0to evoke wellness, but\u00a0instead stirred confusion. <\/p>\n
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Jean Nidetch, co-founder of the decades-old brand. Comonte says WeightWatchers is now entering the most exciting chapter in the company\u2019s history \u00a9 Alamy<\/p>\n
It then suffered from a wave of new competition \u2014 first from online apps that made its in-person meetings look outdated and then from the sudden rise of drugs that upended the weight-loss market.<\/p>\n
Comonte has steered WeightWatchers through the Chapter 11 process, modernising its brand, improving digital products and integrating GLP-1 drugs into its business. \u201cIt was very obvious what needed to be done [regarding] the balance sheet. This company had accumulated $1.6bn worth of debt [and its] free cash flow all went to interest on the debt\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009It was imperative to be able to free up capital for innovation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The question now is whether growth from its clinical arm can offset declines in the core dieting division, according to Nathan Feather, an analyst at Morgan Stanley. <\/p>\n
About 12 per cent of Americans have used GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, according to research group Rand, and Comonte insists the company is now in a position for rising demand to drive \u2014 not threaten \u2014 its growth. In 2023, it bought Sequence, a telehealth business it has renamed WeightWatchers Clinic, which can prescribe drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, including the new pills, to members in the US.<\/p>\n
Revenues from the clinical subscription business, which provides the drugs, were 35 per cent higher in the three months to September 2025 than the same period the year before. That compares favourably with group sales, which declined by almost 11 per cent to $172mn \u2014 but only represents about 15 per cent of total revenues. At the end of the third quarter, WeightWatchers had 124,000 clinical subscribers \u2014 60 per cent more than a year earlier. But the number of members on behavioural subscriptions dropped by 20 per cent to 2.9mn.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The clinical business] is still a relatively small proportion of our membership today, but it\u2019s a fast-growing part of the business. I expect more and more people to be on these medications over time\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009[particularly as the] price comes down.\u201d <\/p>\n
Interest in the drugs programme is clearly high. More than 1,000 people logged on to a recent online \u201cGLP-1 Curious\u201d session even though \u201cwe did no marketing\u201d, says Comonte. It is a big shift for the company that in 2024 parted ways with its brand ambassador and shareholder Oprah Winfrey after she credited her smaller size to jabs.<\/p>\n
The risk is that by going down the GLP-1 route, WeightWatchers becomes just another provider, losing its community spirit and focus on its core behavioural business.<\/p>\n
For WeightWatchers to sell itself as supporting weight-loss drugs through lifestyle changes, it needs to work on its messaging, says Neil Saunders, managing director of retail at consultancy Global Data, so the consumer sees it as \u201cmore than\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009just weight loss \u2014 it doesn\u2019t yet fully occupy that ground\u201d.<\/p>\n
Comonte hopes to encourage members who sign up to take drugs to also participate in a programme that advises on managing side effects, diet and exercise. A three-month trial by the company found those taking medication lost 54 per cent more weight if they also did its behavioural programme, compared with those who just took drugs. <\/p>\n
The chief executive, who is slender, sees herself as the \u201cperfect example of someone who wants to maintain my weight\u201d. Like many members, she is using the WeightWatchers programme to restrict her calorie intake after the Christmas festivities. \u201cIt\u2019s a particularly busy time.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hopes to launch an AI body scanner so users can monitor and maintain muscle mass while losing weight, and says coaches at the company have experience of being on weight-loss drugs so members can access \u201cpeople who have walked in your shoes\u201d.<\/p>\n
Unlike online pharmacies, which \u201creally just write your prescription and wish you luck\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009we support you the whole way through that journey\u201d. <\/p>\n
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The American rapper Queen Latifah has been signed up as a brand ambassador for the company\u2019s new programme for menopausal women <\/p>\n