Alley Goes on Offensive About Weight

NEW YORK – Kirstie Alley (search) has pulled a switch-a-roo on the tabloids. After many photographs splashed in different celebrity magazines documented her noticeable weight gain, the former "Cheers" (search) actress is going on the offensive.

With her new Showtime show, "Fat Actress," (search) to begin filming this fall, Alley is by no means shirking the attention to her weight problem. But that's not to say she's happy with her appearance.

Alley told People magazine: "The weird thing is, I don't like the way I look — and I like who I am. I like who I am better than I've ever liked myself."

The 53-year-old actress says that her weight is 203 pounds, not the frequently cited 300 pounds. Still, she completely accepts responsibility for her situation.

"I don't consider fat a disease. I mean, c'mon, who had the (expletive) gun to my head? Nobody! What gene in my body says I have to eat four cakes instead of two? It's a choice."

Alley can't stand the media's or Hollywood's perspective on weight. "My weight in the rags in being treated like a tragedy," she said. "Tragedies in my mind would be like AIDS, starvation, illiteracy, child abuse."