Rosie O’Donnell on Weight Loss, Her Facelift, Family, and Her New One-Woman Show: ‘It’s Funny to Be Re-Famous at 64’ (Exclusive)

NEED TO KNOW

• In this week’s PEOPLE cover story, Rosie O’Donnell reflects on her late mother’s influence, her parenting journey with five kids and her bond with her child Clay

• O’Donnell also shares how weight loss, a facelift and time in Ireland have brought her peace and renewed confidence

• Her new one-woman show, Common Knowledge, explores her experience of being a mother without her own mom

The last time Rosie O’Donnell saw her mother, “she was on the green couch in the good living room where we were never allowed to go,” the star recalls. “I was learning how to look up words in the dictionary, and she asked me to look up ‘beautiful.’ She was so moved, and I was so happy that I leaned in close—and I hurt her. She winced in pain and said, ‘Be careful, Roseann.’ I have not always been careful in my life,” admits O’Donnell, “but what she taught me stayed with me, which is to endure, to make people laugh and to lead with love.” 

Three days later, Roseann O’Donnell died of breast cancer at 39—“the defining moment of my life,” says O’Donnell, 64, her namesake. But it wasn’t until she moved to Ireland in January 2025 that the mom of five (Parker, 31, Chelsea, 28, Blake, 26, Vivienne, 23, and Clay, 13) started writing about Roseann and her own experience “being a mother while being motherless”—intimate stories that have since turned into her new one-woman show Common Knowledge, which opens at New York City’s Daryl Roth Theatre on July 22. 

Happily back in the city with Clay (who is autistic and nonbinary) for the summer, O’Donnell is “overjoyed” to be closer to her newest grandchild, Blake’s 4-month-old son Anthony. She also recently visited her daughter Chelsea, now sober, who’s serving an 18-month sentence for drug possession, and says, “There’s finally hope on the horizon.” 

Candid, unfiltered, and still obsessed with Barbra Streisand, O’Donnell runs into pals wherever she goes—including during her People photo shoot on the streets of New York. “Hey, Rosie!” says a passerby. “Hey, Frankie, how are you?!” she says. Turns out it’s her friend Frankie Grande—singer Ariana Grande’s brother and the star of Broadway’s hit musical Titaníque. From her unfiltered TikTok “rambles” on everything from politics to parenting, to her recent facelift, to her upcoming guest-host spot for Jimmy Kimmel Live!,O’Donnell’s enjoying being back in the spotlight: “It’s funny to be re-famous at 64.” 

What was the biggest surprise about Ireland?

The peace that I feel there. It is not a celebrity-obsessed culture. When people see me, they don’t say, “Could I have your picture?” They say, “Welcome, Rosie.” Everywhere I looked, I saw people who looked like my family—90-year-old women in the supermarket. If my mom lived, that would’ve been her, and I started writing about her and being a mother while being motherless. 

How have you coped with the grief over the years? 

There are two dividing lines in my life. My mother’s death on March 17, 1973, and the birth of my [first] son, Parker, on June 14, 1995. It was difficult to not have a mom when you get your period and you need a bra. [My best friend] Jackie’s mother, Bernice, got me my first training bra. I don’t think you ever get over it. But hearing your child call you “Mama” the first time, and now watching my 26-year-old son hold his baby, really did heal many of my maternal wounds.

What does being a mom mean to you? 

People sometimes say, “That’s so great that you adopted. You saved those kids.” And I say, “Those kids saved me.” Each kid was like a floatie, and I was staying afloat because of my desire to give them a loving family that said “I love you,” which was never said in my house. Every time I hang up the phone, I say, “I love you,” and my kids say, “Yeah, Mom, you’ve told us.”

What have you learned from parenting an autistic child? 

Clay’s vulnerability has forced me to be more connected and attached and for us to be close in a way that I hadn’t been with my other kids. Autism is so miraculously curious. Clay understands very big concepts for a kid who’s only 13. They said to me once, “Do you realize that Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the completion of the Pyramids of Giza? Common knowledge.” Hence the name of my show. I went into the bathroom and googled that, and it’s true.

What about your older kids? 

I love the fact that my kids still need me. My son Blake said, “Mommy, I want you to move back to be around my baby”—and that really hit home. The joy that I feel being around him and this newborn, I don’t have the words for it.

How are things with Chelsea these days?

She’s sober, and that’s changed everything. She ran away at 17 to her birth mother and to a very drug-addled community in Wisconsin. I recently visited her in prison, which was overwhelmingly emotional, but I saw the kid that I used to know. She calls every day, and we talk.

You’ve lost nearly 60 lbs. with a GLP-1. 

Mounjaro changed my life. I couldn’t even pronounce it at first. I started three years ago when I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I was stunned at how it quieted the food noise. I’ve had trouble with my weight my whole life. I know the shame and humiliation dealt to people who are overweight. My kids would come home from trick-or-treating with pillowcases full of candy and hide it. Smart children. I’d wake up at 3 in the morning and go, “There’s a Nestlé’s Crunch bar somewhere.” I couldn’t help myself. 

How has the weight loss changed your life?

It’s very strange to just buy a pair of jeans that fit. When I would do late-night, my biggest concern wasn’t my set—it was, did I look fat? On League of Their Own, [director] Penny Marshall didn’t help by saying, “Rosie, I want you to lose 20 lbs.” I’m like, “You think I carry it around for fun, Penny?” When I look back, I go, “God, I wish I could have enjoyed the size I was.” I’m now at that same weight. But I feel much healthier, more powerful in my own physicality.

You also decided to have a deep plane facelift.

I lost so much weight that I had a lot of excess skin here [pointing to her chin], and it made me look sad. People in Ireland said, “Rosie, are you all right, love?” I’m like, “It’s my face. I actually feel happy here.” I didn’t want my face to be frozen. I had to wrestle with myself because as a feminist I always felt this is the male gaze and not anything I believe in. Clay said, “Mommy, girls look up to you. What does your legacy stand for if you do this?” I changed my mind for six months and then decided the real power of feminism [is] to decide what we want to do with our bodies and when.

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You’ve been refreshingly open about it. 

I didn’t make it public until everyone started saying, “You look so much better. What are you doing?” I didn’t want to be one of those people who says, “Oh, nothing.” So why do I look like this? $90,000. I was worried about the cost. I don’t like to waste money. I would never spend that on a car.

And Clay didn’t notice?

Still hasn’t. I hope they don’t pick up People magazine . . . but you never know. 

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Thoughts on life at 64?

It’s glorious. When you’re 40 or 30, you’re worried all the time—am I doing it right? Now I don’t really care. It used to be when our President would say things about me, it would be like, whoa. If you had written this as a movie—a stand-up comic makes fun of a reality show host, and he ends up being the President, and then he doesn’t shut up about her for 20 years—it would be unbelievable. The fact that it’s my life is very trippy.

You and Madonna are still super close friends. 

We text, and I go to her house, and we talk about the kids. She ran a very tight ship. I had a very not tightship. Her kids Lola and Rocco would come over for a playdate, and I’d give them an ice pop, and turn on the cartoons. I’d never met another woman whose mother died and they’re named after the mother. When you go to the grave site, you see your name on the tombstone. When we met, it was the first thing I said: “My mom died when I was young, and I was named after her too.” It’s like we became sisters at that moment. 

Are you in a romantic relationship—or interested?

I am interested. Now that Clay’s 13, and I’m in a good place, I would like to be in love again. But I’m one of those people—I think everyone just wants to be friends. If you don’t have a sign that says “I’m trying to date you,” I totally don’t get it. I have to turn that part of my body or my brain on. 

You and Clay clearly have a special connection.

We were out, and there was a child crying and a mother comforting him. I don’t know if the child had autism, but I thought it was a possibility. I started to cry, and Clay grabbed my hand. When we got home, Clay said, “You know what I noticed since we got to Ireland? You’re softer now.” I said, “Thank you for noticing. I love you very much”—and then Clay rolls their eyes like all my kids do. “Yeah, I know, Mom.” My show is a love letter to Clay as well, even though when I’m rehearsing, they will say, “I never said that. That is an exaggeration.” I always say, “Do you want to come see it?” and Clay responds, “It is one-sided, and not only your opinion matters, Mommy.” I’m like, “You’re damn right. I can’t wait till you write your own show.” •For more on Rosie O’Donnell and her one-woman show, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, available everywhere.

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