Serena Williams is back as a swimsuit model after receiving backlash for her use of the weight loss drug Ro.
The tennis champion was photographed on Instagram posing outdoors wearing an olive green one-piece swimsuit.
She layered her summer look with a fluffy pink robe and Ugg slippers, opted for a soft glam with a pink lip, and posed casually in three snaps.
“I’m not perfect…but I’m perfect,” she captioned Friday’s upload. “Take some time today to celebrate being the perfect version of yourself! 💋”
Fans poured their support into the comment thread.
“Wow! You are an amazing woman, Selena 😍😍😍❤️,” one person exclaimed, while another wrote: “Great post Selena. Hope you feel better.”
A third raved, “We love you Serena! Champion! Legacy! Bold! Trendsetter! Mom! 🔥🔥🔥🔥,” while a fourth commented, “Well said! Be You❤️.”
Additionally, some questioned the athlete’s thin appearance. One person confessed, “Wow, I miss the old Serena…”
Williams, 44, showed off her weight change in a yellow cut-out swimsuit in August.
That same month, she faced backlash from fans after a joint video with GLP-1 pharmaceutical company Roe showed her injecting herself with the once-a-week drug, which she claimed she “needed” after welcoming two daughters with husband Alexis Ohanian in 2019 and 2023.
“As an athlete and an influencer, it’s a shame to keep repeating the story that you need to take medicine to be healthy and achieve acceptable beauty standards. Watching this video made me really sad and disappointed,” one Instagram user wrote at the time.
In an interview with People magazine, the four-time Olympic gold medalist revealed that he lost 30 pounds through medication.
“I feel really good and healthy,” she told the outlet last summer. “I feel lighter both physically and mentally.”
“I did a lot of research on it,” she shared about her decision, noting that despite her diet and exercise efforts, she struggled to “get back to where I needed to be.”
“I was thinking, ‘Is this a shortcut? What’s the benefit? What’s not?'” Before I actually did it, I wanted to dig deeper. ”
Now, she says she’s feeling great again. “I can do more. I’ve become more active,” she told the outlet. “My joints don’t hurt as much. The simple act of just getting off feels a lot easier for me. And it’s a lot faster.”
She also noted an increase in energy and said, “I feel pretty good.”
