Ex On The Beach’s Laura:
“I feel sad thinking of other people ending up like me”
She’s just returned from Turkey with best pal Chloe Ferry after having nose jobs together – but this is far from Laura Brown’s first foray into surgical procedures. In fact, she’s been under the knife roughly 20 times in the past three years. Worryingly, the Ex On The Beach star has had six Brazilian butt lifts, five full-body liposuction sessions – as well as regular lipo top-ups on individual areas – three boob jobs, two nose jobs, one breast uplift and her whole face reconstructed through fillers, costing a total of £80k. In July, she travelled to Turkey to get the “fox eye” procedure, one of the latest cosmetic trends on offer, which involves lifting the outer corner of the upper eyelid to change the shape of the eyes.
OBSESSED
And while Laura, 31, is happy with the results, along with her brand-new nose, she’s already thinking about more surgery. She admits she’s addicted to it and offers a stark warning to others not to follow suit.
She says, “I’m obsessed with how I look, and addicted to trying to improve my appearance. As soon as I have something done, I’m thinking about what’s next. I’m always wanting the latest procedure, and if I put on any weight, I get lipo. I know it’s not normal, but I can’t help it. I want to speak out and stop people from getting to the point I’ve got to.”
Four years ago, before Laura appeared on the hit MTV show – where a group of young singles head to a villa abroad and their former flames are introduced to stir up drama – she admits she had never considered surgery and was content with her appearance. In the promo video, she revealed her two best qualities were her “boobs and bum”, which were natural at the time.
But Laura says that when the show aired and viewers began sharing their reactions and thoughts on social media, her mental health took a turn for the worse. The then-size 10-12 star was branded “fat” and “ugly” by trolls, prompting intense insecurities to creep in.
She says, “EOTB showed me without make-up and in my bikini. I thought I looked OK, but everyone online was saying how horrible I looked. It was relentless and I started hating my appearance and crying myself to sleep. It didn’t matter if I turned my phone off, I knew it was all still there. It got to the point where, if I went out in public, I’d believe every person on the street would be thinking how ugly I was. I thought that if I didn’t do something, I’d end up completely depressed and my life would be miserable. I had to change everything.”
PAINFUL
So after researching options, Laura booked an appointment with a clinic in Turkey that specialises in face and body overhauls – much to her mum’s dismay.
She says, “My mum pleaded with me not to go, but I flew out and I felt really excited that I’d look amazing and prove those trolls wrong. I literally begged the surgeons to give me a makeover. I got a Brazilian butt lift [where fat is removed from certain areas of the body, then transferred into the buttocks],
liposuction on my legs and arms and a boob job job, and I was pretty happy with the results. It was uncomfortable and slightly painful, but it wasn’t terrible. I came home and got fillers, too. It was my revenge body and I felt great.”
The results left Laura on a high and, within six months, she’d returned to Turkey to get more work done. She has been going regularly to get top-ups and new procedures ever since, including multiple Brazilian butt lifts, despite recent research showing that one in 3 3,000 people who have it done die.
She says, “I went back for another BBL, another boob job and a boob lift. Then I had a nose job and ab sculpting – where they give you abs to look like you’ve smashed the gym. Since then, I’ve had around four operations a year. I had the ‘fox eye’ surgery in July to make my eyes look nicer. I heard the Kardashians had it done, so I wanted it. For me, having surgery is now like getting a new pair of shoes. There have been fewer comments about my appearance and I feel confident with how I look – but I’d be a liar if I said I was 100 per cent happy. I’m getting filler put in my bum in Dubai soon and I hope, after that, I’ll be happy – but I’ll still probably want more. I know it’s bad, but I can’t stop. I’m addicted to it.”
LONG-LASTING DAMAGE
Despite her plans for her next procedure and body overhaul, single
Laura does recognise the potential long-lasting damage she may inflict on her body and the emotional damage it causes.
“I do worry about the future,” she admits. “In ten years’ time, I’ll probably fall to bits. It does break my heart thinking about how I’ve changed, and my parents get really upset. My mum said I should see a counsellor to focus more on what’s going on emotionally, but I hate talking about my problems. I just hope I can finally be content with myself.”
Laura adds that she wants to warn people about the dangers of surgery addiction, explaining that the first procedure you undergo is rarely the last.
She says, “I feel sad thinking about other people ending up like me. I get so many young girls asking about my procedures on Instagram. I tell them, ‘You’re beautiful the way you are, don’t start getting it done because you’ll always want more.’ I’d advise anyone to steer clear, because it becomes a slippery slope. I wish I could say to myself, ‘I’m done with surgery’, but I just can’t.”
Along list of the nation’s favourite TV stars have spoken openly about their surgery in recent years. And sadly, for many, it seems to have become a compulsion as they repeatedly go back for more.
Top surgeon Mark Ho-Asjoe has treated celebrities and members of the public, and tells Closer he feels a moral obligation to make sure they’re doing it for the right reasons to prevent them from becoming addicted. He says, “Often, people will come in for one treatment, and have the mindset that it’ll be their one and only operation.
But, sometimes, patients will have such a positive experience with their procedure and feel so happy, they’ll start looking at different parts of their body that they want to improve. They come back for more, and may feel happier again, and then decide they want something else changed. People can become reliant on surgery to make themselves feel good.
“Reality TV stars and influencers are particularly vulnerable, as they’re constantly looking at photos of themselves and can become fixated on what they perceive as a ‘flaw’. Social media comments from trolls can also create insecurities – if a troll draws attention to something, they can create an insecurity for these reality stars out of nothing, meaning they want to resort to surgery.
“It can become a dangerous addiction. Psychologically and financially, it’s damaging, as it means you will never be truly happy with yourself. But the risks are also physical – repeatedly undergoing procedures can leave you with life-long damage. If you’re having multiple boob jobs, for example, you are repeatedly going over the same opening and it can leave you with horrendous scars. And while fillers dissolve, some residue is always left behind, meaning you can permanently alter your face if you build this up. My practice has a psychologist who we’ll always refer our patients to if it’s felt they’re not having surgery for the right reasons. Sometimes, I have teenagers come in and say they want to change their nose or breasts to get back at an ex, or because someone made a rude comment. In those cases, we’ll insist they talk through their issues with our expert. That’s why practices abroad – such as in Laura’s case – can be risky, as often they are less regulated and there won’t be so many questions asked. Surgery can change lives for the better, but you must always look seriously into why you want it. There are too many young people who think they must overhaul their looks to feel good about themselves, and it’s dangerous.”
Here, Closer speaks to two reality stars about their decision to undergo cosmetic work…