Douvall, a “glamour model” famous in Britain for having kissed and told about various celeb boyfriends, has had 15 boob jobs, facelifts, and repeated operations to change the shape of her face. Doctors in the UK will no longer treat her, so Douvall comes to the States for surgery and lies about her medical history. She says she has been known to walk into a surgeon’s office without a clear idea of the procedure she wants, as long as she gets something. She tells the Independent, “Imagine playing Russian roulette with your life,t hat’s what I’m doing. It’s out of control, and has cost me more than £1m. Before I decided to come to Malibu, I’d accepted that I was going to carry on with it until I was either bankrupt or dead…I’ve had so many operations that I can’t feel my stomach, my left breast, or anything under my right arm.”
Douvall’s a pretty clear case of body dysmorphic disorder, and it’s heartening to know she’s treating her addiction. Why she’s doing it on a celeb rehab reality show is another matter, but we’ll take the charitable approach and hope the example helps others with cosmetic surgery addictions. And if exposure is the only way certain celebrities can be induced to get help, well then, so much the better. The nature of the treatment is somewhat controversial, focusing as it does on “curing” addictions rather than adhering to the time-tested AA-style approach that addiction can only be managed. Douvall found the round of experts and intensive therapy so draining that she describes breaking down numerous times per day (which we would sort of assume is standard in rehab) and after the show wrapped, she stayed on an additional two weeks. Has it worked? Well, Douvall recently canceled an appointment for an upcoming “toe facelift,” so we can only hope.
Alicia Douvall: Addicted To Cosmetic Surgery [Independent]
