Celebrity Big Brother’s cosmetic surgery secrets revealed… from Botox nightmare that ended in A&E trip to £4k boob job
CELEBRITY Big Brother housemates are regularly accused of being fake on the show… and for some that could be true – if you’re talking about their appearance.
That’s because the 2025 line-up has been lining the pockets of plastic and cosmetic surgeons for years thanks to having various nips, tucks and so-called ‘tweakments’.
At the top is disgraced actor Mickey Rourke, who was booted out of the CBB house over homophobic comments towards JoJo Siwa and then later squaring up to Chris Hughes.
His face is a patchwork quilt of varying ops and procedures, most of which he underwent to reduce the damage caused by his boxing career in the Seventies and Nineties.
During his time in the ring, the fighter broke his nose twice, smashed his cheekbone and suffered other facial damage, which he’s spent a fortune trying to remedy.
But he’s certainly not alone. Others have had boob jobs, expensive new gnashers and Botox by the barrel-load, as we reveal alongside cosmetic surgery expert Dr Tijion Esho.
And starting with The Wrestler star Mickey, he tells us: “His aesthetic journey seems driven by both trauma recovery and a desire to maintain a certain Hollywood image.
“Unfortunately, repeated surgeries, especially with poor surgical choices, can create the ‘overworked’ look we sometimes see.”
According to Dr Esho’s calculations, Mickey could have easily spent £100,000 – including £10,000 a time for his five nose jobs.
The actor’s ex-wife Debra Feuer revealed he first went under the knife to in the late Eighties because he was so desperate to land a part in the 1990 film Wild Orchid.
“He’ll kill me for saying this, but he wanted the part in one film so badly that he got cheek implants,” she told the Mirror in 2009.
“He told me he was swollen because he’d had his molar teeth removed but I knew that was untrue – he didn’t have any molars to take out.”
That same year, Mickey revealed his extensive list of surgeries, telling the MailOnline: “Most of it was to mend the mess of my face because of the boxing, but I went to the wrong guy to put my face back together.”
Back then, he detailed five operations on his nose including one to rebuild his nostrils with cartilage taken from his ear that went wrong.
Surgeons had to “scrape out the cartilage” because the scar tissue “wasn’t healing properly”, which Mickey said was “one of the most painful operations”, before adding: “The worst was hemorrhoids.”
In the seven years to 2016, Mickey would have multiple facelifts in an attempt to deal with his sagging skin and make him look more youthful, as well as additional cheek implants.
A 12-year-old shouldn’t have a stress rash on their head that makes them bald, but I did
JoJo Siwa
Then in 2017, he shared a snap after another rhinoplasty on Instagram and told fans: “Now I am pretty again (lol)… one more to go.”
Since then, Mickey has had Botox injections, fillers in his lips, cheeks and forehead and several non-surgical wrinkle-reducing treatments.
£50k gnashers
Former Nickelodeon star JoJo Siwa was thrust into the spotlight at the age of 10 when she appeared on the US reality TV show Abby’s Ultimate Dance Competition.
And with that came the difficulties of public scrutiny that left her “a very insecure person” because “everything gets judged” – even her appearance.
JoJo, 21, revealed people would poke fun at her ‘receding hairline’ but said they didn’t know it was caused by a “stress rash” from fame and her insecurities.
“That’s why I’m balding right here,” she said. “A 12-year-old shouldn’t have a stress rash on their head that makes them bald, but I did.”
Last year, when asked the most expensive thing she was wearing at the GLAAD Media Awards, she pointed to her veneers and said: “These motherf***ers cost me 50 grand.”
That converts to around £40,000 and according to Dr Esho, founder of CULTSKIN, the sizeable sum isn’t surprising due to the pressures on American showbiz stars to look perfect.
He adds: “For many in the public eye, teeth are as important as facial treatments. It’s not uncommon to invest heavily here, especially in the US.”
‘Tweakment Queen’
Possibly the only CBB star that could rival Mickey Rourke’s extensive list of nips, tucks and tweakments is former TOWIE cast member Ella-Rae Wise.
Since joining the ITV reality show in 2019, she’s undergone a dramatic glow-up including having ‘Baby Tox’ – a lower dose of Botox – “on the regular”.
She also has hyaluronic acid injected into her skin to make it smoother and another anti-wrinkle jab into her chin “to dispose the 1,000% dimples”.
Three years ago, when she was 21, Ella-Rae also had a boob job after being mocked by trolls who said she “had the body of a 12-year-old” and insecurities over being “flat-chested”.
Telling OK magazine about her struggles prior to the £3,600 half-price Harley Street op, she said: “No bra ever fitted me, it would always go to the front.”
My head felt really weird, like I couldn’t really move it. I couldn’t frown or anything and I just got so panicked I started having heart palpitations
Patsy Palmer
And whenever she hit the beach, Ella-Rae used to “want to go home” because she “didn’t feel confident enough in my body”.
Her new C-cups have made a massive difference to her confidence, with her saying: “Now I can’t put them away, I don’t want to hide them anymore, I want to get them out!”
Ella-Rae’s other tweaks include composite bonding to give her a ‘Hollywood smile’, lip tattoooing to give them a rosy glow and micro-blading, which is a semi-permanent eyebrow tattoo.
Based on Dr Esho’s estimations, her list of treatments could have cost £12,500, with the most expensive being composite bonding, which could have cost up to £5,000 alone.
He tells us: “She’s very much part of the ‘tweakment’ generation, where small, regular procedures like Baby Botox and semi-permanent makeup are the norm.
“Her choices reflect a strong influence of social media beauty standards.”
Botox battle
Nearly 15 years ago, ex-EastEnders star Patsy Palmer swore off Botox for good after a particularly large dose caused her to have a panic attack.
“My head felt really weird, like I couldn’t really move it. I couldn’t frown or anything and I just got so panicked I started having heart palpitations,” she told Piers Morgan’s Life Stories.
“I was freaking out. I got so panicky and ended up in A&E with an ECG on… That was my relationship with Botox over. I got really scared about it.”
By 2020, Patsy even went as far as to say she loved her “old and wrinkled neck” because it gave her an “appreciation for love and how far I’ve come” and embraced her grey hairs too.
However, ahead of her CBB appearance, the actress revealed she had U-turned on her no-more Botox vow, admitting she gets “a little bit… every now and then”.
Biggest Celebrity Weight Loss Transformations
Gemma Collins – TOWIE diva Gemma has been very honest and open about her fluctuating weight. Earlier this year, the star opened up to The Sun about her latest weight loss in which she revealed she had begun taking weight loss jabs in a bid to be a size 16 by summer 2025. “I can’t believe I’ve finally found something that works,” Gemma told us. I’ve lost nearly two stone already and it’s been completely effortless – I don’t even want to eat anymore! I got on the scales and lost something like 6kg in my first week. I bet my house by May, I’ll have six stone off. And it’s been effortless. I’ve struggled for many, many years to lose weight… All my life… I tried everything.”
Shaun Wallace – Best known for being The Dark Destroyer on ITV quiz show The Chase, Shaun has also been on a body transformation. Earlier this month, he revealed he had been able to drop the pounds thanks to the Jane Plan diet. Speaking in a video recorded in his bathroom, Shaun said: “End of the first week of the Jane Plan diet journey, let’s see if I’ve lost weight…” Shaun continued by standing on scales and revealing he’d managed to lose three kilos. The quiz titan captioned his post: “It’s weigh in time! I’ve lost 3 kilos!! Keeping up with my Jane Plan diet.”
Lizzo – Popstar Lizzo has also seen a body overhaul over the past 12 months. The About Damn Time hitmaker has been keen to flaunt her weight loss in a number of scantily-clad outfits. Taking to social media, she revealed she had reduced her body fat by 16%. Alongside a caption that confirmed she had met her “weight loss goals”, Lizzo posted a close up of her newly-discovered abs and an exact breakdown of her achievements, which saw a 10.5 reduction in BMI and 16 per cent loss in body fat. In her caption, she wrote: “I did it.
Chantelle Houghton – The Celebrity Big Brother winner has seen her weight balloon over the years before managing to get a trimmed-down figure once more. However, Chantelle previously told The Sun how she did not step foot in the gym once to overhaul her look. “I genuinely didn’t exercise, I didn’t go to the gym, I didn’t do anything apart from cut sugar out, and the weight just started to drop off of me,” she said. “It just goes to show how unhealthy sugar is.” Chantelle lost 5st as a result of cutting out sugar.
Patsy, who said she tried fillers but didn’t like it, now resorts to the famous wrinkle-buster to “look a little bit fresh” and “not so tired” even though her husband is against it.
“He does not like the look! I tell him I’ll just do a little bit, but he says you don’t need to do anything. So that’s really lovely as well,” she told the We’re Not Getting Any Younger podcast.
“I don’t want to look like I’ve had a face full of stuff – I want to look natural, but it’s hard to get that balance.”
And it seems Patsy may not stop there, as she explained she would like a lower-face lift to tighten the skin around her neck which she dislikes because it’s always “drooping down”.
According to Dr Esho’s calculations, Botox can cost around £5,000 a year, meaning the actress will have easily spent in excess of £20,000 and a future face lift could cost £15,000.
He tells us: “Patsy’s story highlights the emotional weight that can come with tweakments.
“Her return to non-invasive treatments after a break shows a more cautious, considered approach.”
‘Face fell in’
Talkshow host Trisha Goddard revealed she experimented with cosmetics as a result of her 17-year battle with breast cancer.
Speaking about the effects of chemotherapy treatment, the mum-of-two said in 2019: “I was on air [and] my face literally fell in so I had fillers there.”
“Once a year I have those lines done, and a bit of filler in my face and for the first time last year I had a tiny bit of Botox.”
The latter cosmetic treatment was to help with her eyesight, which she admitted to “really struggling with” and deeply upset her.
Botox injections can help to realign the eyes, reduce muscle contractions and lift and tighten saggy skin around the eyelids, which blocks line of sight.
The injectibles can cost up to £5,000 per year according to Dr Esho.
