‘MY $15,000 NEW FACE’
THE WILD SYDNEY SOCIALITE HAS GONE UNDER THE KNIFE FOR A THIRD TIME
Aged 75, eternally youthful socialite and self-confessed swinger Christa Billich is celebrating her third facelift – with a bottle of vintage French Champagne served in the very finest crystal glasses, naturally.
“I fully admit I’m vain but hey, that’s not a negative,” the Real Housewives of Melbourne and My 80-Year-old Flatmate star laughs, proudly revealing her newly renovated and “refreshed” appearance. “For me, beauty is not about being perfect, it’s about being the best you can be at any age. It’s a fantastic personality, it’s optimism, being able to laugh at yourself. And a dash of vanity works for me too.” Christa stands by her choice to have cosmetic surgery, just as she sticks with her flamboyant millionaire spouse, philandering artist and sculptor Charles Billich. Together, they have shared an ‘open marriage’ for more than 30 years – and although Charles once warned he would never be faithful, he remains loyal to his muse and supportive of her latest enhancement procedure. “You know what husbands are like,” confides glamorous, German-born Christa, a successful businesswoman, would-be actress and reality TV star in her own right. “When I was still swollen after the operation, Charles asked me, ‘Is that going to stay like that?’. But the other day I overheard him telling someone, ‘Look at her, the way she looks now, that’s all my work.’ So, he’s obviously proud of it.”
In fact, credit for Christa’s rejuvenation goes to surgeons Dr Frank Hsieh and Dr Mike Shenouda, who carried out her cheiloplasty (or shortening of the upper lip) plus a face and neck lift at the Géniale medical aesthetic centre in Drummoyne, Sydney.
“We aimed to give Christa a subtle yet satisfying result that would take 12 years off how she looks,” explains Dr Shenouda, founding doctor at the innovative beauty super-centre. Fully recovered four weeks after the three-hour procedure, which cost about $15,000, Christa is convinced it was money well spent.
“I look younger and that sagging skin is gone,” she says. “My lips are changed and that takes a bit of getting used to. My big smile doesn’t work quite the way it did. But I have a much better pout now when I want to kiss somebody!”
Christa, who manages her 85-year-old husband’s thriving art empire, is already planning for their next adventure, a feature film based on their exotic, unconventional life.
“Charles and I easily keep up with friends half or even a quarter of our age and we aren’t stopping any time,” she says.
“Self-image is a great part of feeling vital and we just do what we want. Whether it’s freedom in the bedroom or feeling at liberty to have a facelift, it should be celebrated.”