Natalee: “I woke up covered in blood and shaking”

Since rising to S fame on The Valleys in 2012, Natalee Harris has had three boob jobs, lip fillers, cheek fillers and Botox – so, being no stranger to surgery, she wasn’t worried about booking herself in for a Brazilian butt lift.

The reality star, 30 – who suffers from body dysmorphia – says social media made her want a bigger bum. Her friend recommended a Turkish cosmetic surgery and she saw images of successful BBL transformations on their Instagram page. “I’d wanted my bum done for a while,” she says. “I wanted to look like Kim Kardashian and I’d seen these great big bums all over social media and I wanted to look good, but not go to the gym. That’s what it falls down to.

“The clinic my friend had recommended had more than 12,000 followers and amazing transformation photos, so I thought it must be legit.”

In May this year, Natalee went abroad with a friend for the op – but panic set in when the day drew nearer, as there was no sign of the surgeon and no one spoke English.

PANICKED

“I kept thinking, ‘Where’s the surgeon?’” says Natalee. “My friend stayed at the hotel and I was in hospital alone. I didn’t meet the surgeon until just before my surgery. I kept asking questions, but neither he nor the nurses could speak English, so I had to use Google translate.

“By the time I went into surgery, I was panicking like hell, but I kept thinking of the positive reviews and convinced myself to go ahead. Before I knew it, I was under anaesthetic.

“When I woke up, I was covered in blood. I’d wet myself and I was shaking vigorously. I was scared for my life, but no one could communicate with me. I stood up and the wound in my bum started leaking. There was blood all down my legs.”

After the procedure, Natalee was sent away with no aftercare and only painkillers to combat her agony – and by the time she returned to the UK, her bum wounds had become infected.

She says, “I was meant to be given a compression suit for the healing, antibiotics and a pillow to sit on, but there was nothing – they only gave me Paracetamol. When I got back to the UK, I felt awful – feverish and in real pain. I went to my NHS doctor and she said I’d got an infection, so she put me on

antibiotics. She was disgusted at how poorly the procedure had been done.

“On top of all this, my bum actually looked deformed – lumpy, bumpy and it had swollen into a point, almost.”

After being told the swelling and pain would subside in six months, Natalee hoped her bum would even out and the pain would stop – but it didn’t.

Controversially, she then booked herself in for a second BBL at a different Turkish clinic. But she was forced to keep her second surgery a secret from loved ones after Leah’s tragic death from BBL hit the press just days before her second surgery was due.

SCARED

Natalee says, “I was shocked when Leah died from a BBL. I couldn’t believe it was the same procedure I’d had. I found out about her death on the news, just days before my second procedure. I felt scared about the risk, but I needed it done to make my bum look the way I’d hoped. I had to keep it all from my mum and my boyfriend because I think they’d have banned me from doing it.”

Natalee says she’s now happy with her bum and that her second op was successful. But she adds that her body dysmorphia means she’ll always want more surgery to change the way she looks.

She says, “My second bum op went smoothly – it was still painful, but I got proper aftercare and I’m happy with the results. I know there are risks, but the thought of not being happy with how I look and not being able to change it gives me more anxiety than putting myself at risk from having a major op.

“My friends all tell me to stop, but the thought of having no more surgery and not being able to change my body upsets me. So I’m not going to bother lying when I say I’d have more surgery and I’d do the whole thing again. It’s f**ked, but it’s how I see it. I just wish I’d never had surgery in the first place.”