Mindy Kaling addresses wild public reaction to her weight loss: 'I understand it'

Actress and writer Mindy Kaling has addressed the public reaction to her weight loss, which has seen her subjected to a barrage of criticism from fans.Kaling, 46, who shot to fame two decades ago as a cast member on the US version of The Office, which she also helped write, spoke about the reaction to her changing body during a wide-ranging interview with Bustle.The star spoke about the criticism she had received for losing weight and said she "truly understands" why it had upset her fans."It's sometimes no fun when one of your favourite actors loses weight," Kaling said."You have an idea of what they were like when you grew attached to them, and it made them endear themselves to you."Of course, it's never a joy to be scrutinised, but also I truly understand it, as someone who consumes pop culture."Kaling, who wrote an essay entitled Chubby for Life in her 2011 book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns), previously revealed she struggled with her weight since childhood and tried numerous fad diets in her teens.READ MORE: Singer Sheryl Crow's bombshell claim about ex and famous actressREAD MORE: Tyson Fury's daughter breaks silence on wedding rumourREAD MORE: Kylie reveals secret second cancer diagnosishttps://www.instagram.com/p/DYhQFoFgCGE/?utm_source=ig_embed&She later suffered poor body image, which intensified when she arrived in Hollywood.During a 2021 interview with Good Morning America, Kaling said a fellow writer on The Office wrote a joke into the show suggesting her character, Kelly, should lose seven kilos."This is my greatest insecurity and someone just called it out. It's really devastating," she said at the time.But she told Bustle her motivation for losing weight more recently was not vanity but the three children she is raising as a single mother so she can "live at least 20 more years"."When I was younger, I would want to lose weight because of vanity reasons," she said."Now I want to lose weight or have lost weight because I want to stave off things like diabetes."I had it on both sides of my family, and trying to avoid those kinds of things will, I think, help longevity for me, and that's my goal."Do I wake up every day being like, 'I look amazing and I'm so gorgeous'? No, unsurprisingly, but I truly feel so healthy."For a daily dose of 9Honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.While there has been much conjecture online about how Kaling lost weight, she told People in 2023 she had done it with a mix of exercise and eating in moderation.She said she had set herself a goal of hiking or running 32 kilometres a week."It's really a big commitment," she said.I wake up really early and I fit it in – and I basically live in workout clothes so I can get it in, get an extra mile in."She also lifts weights with her trainer.Kaling has three children; Katherine, known as 'Kit', eight, Spencer, five, and Anne, who is two.She has never disclosed who the father of her children is, but it has long been rumoured that actor/comedian BJ Novak, her co-star in The Office and former flame, is their dad.FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.