Telehealth provider Ro said Thursday it has signed 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams as a “celebrity patient ambassador” to headline a multi-year national campaign promoting GLP-1 weight-loss treatments. Williams, 43, disclosed she has lost 31 pounds (14 kg) over about eight months while using a branded GLP-1 drug, telling NBC’s “Today” that after two pregnancies her body “wasn’t responding the way it used to” despite intensive training. “I don’t take shortcuts,” she added, saying she hopes the partnership will reduce stigma around the medications. Ro sells Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound—drugs that can trim roughly 20 % of body weight—through a cash-pay and insurance model. The company did not specify which product Williams uses. Williams’ husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, is an investor in Ro and sits on its board, deepening the connection between the athlete and the New York-based startup. Former Ro strategist Paul Cerro said the endorsement should lift the firm’s visibility in a crowded telehealth market targeting obesity and women’s health. Celebrity disclosures have fueled demand for GLP-1s even as regulators monitor their long-term safety and—in sports—their potential as performance enhancers. Williams’ entry into the sector underscores how the blockbuster drug class is moving further into the mainstream.