Chantelle: “I’ve transformed my figure – and my face!”
Chantelle Houghton opens up to Closer’s Neeru Sharma about her head-to-toe makeover, her surgery regrets and meeting Mr Right
We’ve met Chantelle Houghton many times over the years, but as she arrives for Closer’s photoshoot, she looks almost unrecognisable. The star – who found fame as the first non-celebrity to enter Celebrity Big Brother and was crowned winner in 2006 – has undergone a jaw-dropping transformation. Not only has she lost 2st in recent months, but Chantelle, 36, has also had a nonsurgical face lift as well as Botox to her forehead and cheek fillers, after feeling “down in the dumps” over her appearance.
And to say she’s delighted with the results would be a huge understatement. “I love my new look! I feel about ten years younger,” Chantelle beams. “It’s given me a massive confidence boost. My face looked tired, sunken and drawn, and
I just wanted to put the oomph back in.
Now I feel amazing!”
TURNING HEADS
The down-to-earth reality star – who shares a daughter with her ex-fiancé, cagefighter Alex Reid – admits her new look has already turned heads. She spent two weeks undergoing her procedures as well as a round of semi-permanent make-up at celebrity salon Tracie Giles in London, and believes the transformation has worked wonders for her self-esteem.
“Just days after I had my makeover,
I was asked out by two guys,” she giggles. “I declined, as they weren’t for me, but it put a real spring in my step. Even the mums on the school run had to look at me twice. It might sound vain, but if you look the part, I think it makes you feel and appear more attractive.”
Despite her new-found confidence, Chantelle – who has mostly stepped away from the limelight in recent years – readily admits she’s been plagued with insecurities over her appearance, despite once working as a glamour model and fronting lads’ mags.
“I was never as confident as people believed,” she says. “When I looked in the mirror, I thought I looked like I’d been dug up and felt downtrodden. I’ll be 40 in four years, and though I don’t feel old on the inside, my face was starting to look aged. There are so many pictures of me where I look fresh-faced. It was easy to keep looking and comparing myself.”
She adds, “But now I think I look better than I did at 20! It’s given me a boost mentally, too. If I was out, I’d always look at the floor and use my hair to hide my face, but I feel fresher and younger now.”
The 5ft 7 star has openly struggled with body confidence over the years, yo-yoing between a size 8 and a size 16, and has suffered an eating disorder, admitting she was “obsessed” with her weight. While she feels healthier than ever now, after following a plant-based diet, she concedes she’ll always have a difficult relationship with her body.
“I don’t think I’ll ever be 100 per cent happy with my figure,” she admits. “I used to be really stressed about it, but I’ve learned to accept my body will never be perfect. It’s very much maintenance with me, but I feel better than I have done in a long time.”
VEGAN DIET
Chantelle has shed 2st over the past three months, dropping from a size 14 to a size 10 after making sensible food choices and exercising. She explains, “My weight crept up to a size 14 and I began to feel uncomfortable. I’ve been vegan for six years and it makes me feel clean and healthy, but now I’ve just cut out
all the rubbish. I walk a lot more, and I do three miles on my fold-up bike in the week. My stomach is more toned.”
Now, her typical daily diet includes rice cakes with avocado, topped with chilli and coriander for breakfast. Lunch is a jacket potato with salad, and pasta or a Tuscan vegetable stew with couscous for dinner. Though she does have one vice: “I don’t have a sweet tooth, but I love freezing cold chips!’ she laughs.
GOING UNDER THE KNIFE
And Chantelle admits she feels more comfortable in her skin since ditching her FF breast implants three years ago.
The star first went under the knife in
2007, boosting her from a B-cup, and says, “I never wanted big boobs growing up, but everyone from Katie Price and Victoria Beckham had them and I thought, ‘Why not?’ But I instantly regretted them because I suffered from back pain – they grew to a G and I couldn’t wait to get them out. I’ll never have plastic surgery now.”
And while she’s revelling in her new looks, Chantelle – who had a whirlwind relationship with fellow CBB star and musician Preston, marrying in 2006 and divorcing just a year later – admits she’d love to settle down again.
She says, “I’m still in touch with
Preston, which is lovely. I actually spoke to him a few weeks ago. We were so young when we met, and it didn’t work out, but it’s nice we’re still friends. Even when we split, we lived together for a while and would have dinner at the table as normal, because we never had a huge falling out.”
She adds, “I’d definitely like to meet someone now. I’ve been in the shadows for a few years, but I feel like a new version of myself. When you’re younger and you meet someone, you tend to gloss over the cracks, but now I’m at the stage where I won’t settle for anyone but the love of my life!”
‘I wanted to put the oomph back in – now I feel amazing’