‘ALEX TELLS ME IT BOOSTED HER CONFIDENCE BUT I CAN’T BEAR IT’

PR MANAGER and mother Nici Cunningham got the shock of her life from her Love Islandaddicted daughter Alex, 19, when she announced she’d had lip fillers.

‘She sent me a picture of herself, reassuring me they were swollen and would go down,’ Nici said. ‘When I first saw them, I’m afraid my reaction was, “Oh my God!”

‘I appreciate that it’s a first world problem but I really was in absolute shock. She’s got a beautiful face and I tell her that, but she doesn’t see it. I honestly believe the trigger stems from those reality shows and those endless pictures on social media. All girls of Alex’s age are on Instagram, and watch reality TV. Alex’s generation have only known these types of shows.

‘She feels more confident having had her lips done and is of the opinion they look better, but I can’t bear it.’

Alex, a hairdresser and makeup artist, is unfazed. Like Sophie, she doesn’t see the problem, and instead regards having her lips

injected as no more serious than the hair extensions she also had put in this year.

‘I’m used to seeing girls my age with their lips artificially enhanced,’ Alex explains.

‘At the last count, at least half a dozen of my girlfriends had. I didn’t do it on a whim.

‘I understand women in their 40s and 50s will tut-tut at my generation for doing this, but it’s normal for us. I did my homework first. The clinic I went to came recommended via a friend of a friend.’

And Alex is thrilled with her new pout.

‘I do take lots more selfies now,’ she says.

‘My bigger lips make me feel more confident.’

Like Sophie, Alex says she didn’t do it to attract men.

‘I’m not sure whether men like my new lips. I didn’t get it done for them – it was about me,’ she adds.