‘I’ve had my 10th nip & tuck – but I’m done with surgery now’
Fresh from going under the knife once again, Tina Malone opens up about finally getting her dream body, deciding against having more work done and battling depression
er journey to body H confidence has been a long road. After dropping 12st with a gastric band in 2009, Tina Malone recently had her 10th gruelling operation to remove excess skin – but the actress says she’s finally turning her back on surgery.
We meet Tina, 54, for our shoot just weeks after she had a four-hour op to remove more loose skin from her stomach and reshape her breasts, changing the D-cup implants she had put in 18 months ago, and going down to a C-cup.
“I’m ecstatic,” says Tina – who’s married to personal trainer Paul Chase, 34 – as she prepares to show us the transformation. “I came out of surgery and looked at my boobs that evening and I couldn’t get over the results, even with the bandages on. Today is the first time I haven’t worn a support bra since the op. And for the first time in my whole life I look in the mirror and think, ‘yeah, I look OK.’ And I look so much better than I did 20 years ago.”
A FINAL OPERATION
Despite having been under the knife 10 times in the past two years – including ops to remove skin from her stomach, arms, face and breasts – the Shameless star – who’s mum to Dannielle, 35, and Flame, three – insists she doesn’t have a surgery addiction and has now stopped for good.
“I can’t put my family through me having any more operations – they worry so much every time, whether it will all go well. I don’t regret anything, but I’m done with surgery now. I’m bored and tired of it – I’m moving forward,” she confesses. “I’m an all-or-nothing person, I’ll have non-invasive procedures and I’m not saying I won’t have anything done when I’m in my 70s if I want to but, for this period of my life, I’m done.”
And following her 12st weight loss, Tina shed another 2st over the past two years. But the 5ft 1 star – who now weighs 8st 1lb – was left with more skin to take from her stomach, underarms and back.
She also had her breasts re-done as the scar tissue from her original boob job had left her with a lopsided cleavage.
“Eleven days after having my boobs done 18 months ago, I reached up and opened a heavy door, went out and partied that night – then the boob burst open and I had to have an emergency op,” Tina Tina was
trolled explains. cruelly
for this photo “I heal really well usually, but I ended up with double the amount of scar tissue and over a year it started to grow and push the breast up so my boobs ended up at different heights. I thought, ‘If this carries on, by 2020 it’s going to be on my chin!’ The op went so well and I’m delighted with the results – it was the final thing for me to have done and I’m drawing a line under it now.”
A DARK CLOUD
Although she’s usually upbeat, Tina – who was declared bankrupt in 2012 – confesses to struggling with depression at the beginning of this year and is having therapy.
“I’ve had a difficult few months with personal issues and financial worries
– if I’m being really honest, I had a bit of
Tina – here a breakdown,”
with Paul she admits. and Flame “Flame has – is ready kept me going to move for the past forward
with her life eight weeks, I’ve not felt as low as that in 15 years. It’s been serious depression and I’ve struggled with panic attacks in the past. I’ve fixed myself here [points to body], now I’m fixing myself here [points to head] and I want to move forward with my life.”
Seeking therapy
She adds: “I want to reinvent myself and I want to address my flaws. I can be irresponsible, compulsive, selfish and immature. I’m having therapy and it’s helping already.”
She admits that she’s coming out of “a dark cloud” now and is focusing on continuing with her therapy and moving forward.
“I’m looking ahead to the future now,” she smiles. “I’m concentrating on work, being creative and being driven. And I’ve started exercising, which is good for your mental health. I’ve got some exciting things coming up – watch this space.”