John Lennon and Yoko Ono were ‘obsessed with staying skinny,’ reveals friend

‘John kept a journal where each day he would write what his weight was,’ says Elliot Mintz

John Lennon and Yoko Ono were obsessed with their weight, according to a new book by their close friend Elliot Mintz.

Mintz, 79, was a Los Angeles-based radio and TV presenter who became close to the couple in the early Seventies. He has written a memoir about their time together, We All Shine On: John, Yoko & Me, which hit shelves on October 22.

Speaking to People, Mintz recalled that the Beatles co-founder, who was murdered in 1980, and Ono were both “obsessed with staying skinny.”

“John kept a journal where each day he would write what his weight was,” he continued. “Yoko and John had endless questions about this subject.”

Mintz recalled the couple unsuccessfully urging him to find them “diet pills” that would help them stay skinny. “They thought that everybody in Hollywood was slim and trim and that there were magic diet pills,” explained Mintz. “And insisted I get that for them.”

He also remembered that Lennon and Ono organized their large wardrobe of clothes “according to waist size.”

Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s close friend Elliot Mintz details their relationship in new memoir (Brenda Chase/Newsmakers)

“They kept their various jeans and pantsuits, whatever it might be, in different categories of waist size, 28 [inches] reaching to 32 or so, depending on how they perceived their weight and how tight the pants fit,” says Mintz.

We All Shine On: John, Yoko, and Me by Elliot Mintz is out now.

Earlier this year, Ono presented a major retrospective of her art work in London titled, “Music of the Mind”.

In a four-star review, The Independent’s Mark Hudson wrote: “Nearly six decades into her often vexed relationship with the British public, Yoko Ono remains a baffling figure. Let’s not even start on the question of whether the Japanese avant-garde artist who married John Lennon did, in fact, ‘break up The Beatles.’

“Many – if not most – of the potentially large audience for Tate Modern’s new retrospective will still be unclear as to whether Ono is a genuinely significant artist or a pretentious charlatan. Is she a wide-eyed utopian as she presents herself, or a slightly sinister, manipulative figure? This thought-provoking show goes a lot further towards answering these questions than I expected.”

For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this piece, eating disorder charity Beat’s helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677.

NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit eating-disorders.org.ukor call 0845 838 2040.