Alicia Douvall's 16 Boob Jobs, 6 Nose Jobs and 308 Cosmetic Treatments

AFRIK UPDATE

Former English glamour model Alicia Douvall  best known for her kiss and tell affairs with celebrities including music mogul Simon Cowell claims to have spent more than £1 million on boob jobs, facelifts and even toe shortening operations.

Model has had 16 boob jobs, six nose jobs, 11 eyelifts and a facelift. She has had more than 330 cosmetic  procedures and operations

A grown woman saying her primary reason for wanting cosmetic surgery is to ‘look more like Barbie’ would be a cause for concern, even to those with no medical training.

Yet unscrupulous  surgeons agreed to operate on her  for just this bizarre reason not once, but more than 50 times.

She claims to have spent up to £1 million on these and other cosmetic procedures such as injections of Botox and fillers, telling surgeons she wanted to be ‘perfect’.

‘I often used that word,’ says the 34-year-old. ‘I took a Barbie doll to one medical consultation to show them exactly what I was after.

'I was unwell; addicted to surgery. But none of those doctors tried to stop me. I think they just wanted my money.’

Alicia is speaking candidly about her predicament as part of our Stop The Cosmetic Surgery Cowboys campaign.

Since her first breast augmentation when she was just 17 – and she has had 16 such operations – the former model and mother of two has undergone six nose jobs, 11 operations on the skin around her eyes, surgery on her cheeks to add and then remove implants, and a facelift.

She has also had a rib shortened to give her a slimmer silhouette, her toes shortened ‘so they looked better in heels’, a tummy tuck,  bottom implants and chin implants which were later removed.

Everything else – her home, clothes, even food – was secondary to spending money on more surgery.

‘Apart from my daughter’s education, I spent nothing on anything but surgery. I ate beans on toast and never had a holiday. I even persuaded boyfriends to pay for operations.’

Far from it. ‘I’ve had so much surgery, my face doesn’t move. I can’t smile properly and can’t breathe through my nose. If I’d never had surgery, I’d be far better looking than I am now.’

Her friends did try to intervene. ‘Even when my daughter begged me to stop having surgery, I carried on. I was convinced the next operation was going to make everything OK, so I didn’t listen.’

She adds: ‘I hold myself responsible, but the doctors who agreed to operate on me when I was clearly not well have a lot to answer for.

'Now I know the problem wasn’t with my breasts or nose, but how I saw myself. But they always agreed that they could improve me.'

Alicia suffers from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also called dysmorphia. A mental illness linked to anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder, or OCD, sufferers obsess over their appearance and have a distorted perception of the way they look.

Even minor ‘flaws’, such as naturally  uneven features or a small scar, become a source of great distress.

Those with BDD believe they are ‘ugly’ and that others see them in this way, too.

Patients can become reclusive and often suffer depression and eating disorders. Seeking medical treatment for their perceived defects, such as cosmetic surgery, is another common symptom. And often they will have  multiple operations.

Alicia says: ‘I was on anti-depressants because I was so upset about what I had done to myself, and it was my psychotherapist who suggested I might have dysmorphia.

'I was sent to rehab, where they treated me like any other addict. I had a lot of psychotherapy and have had to build myself up from scratch.

'I may need surgery again to correct damage caused by too many operations, but I won’t if I can help it.’

Alicia, who is single, backs The Mail on Sunday’s call for clinics to stop offering financial incentives. ‘The guy who operated on me as a teenager should have sent me home, and told me there was nothing wrong with how I looked. But implants need replacing, things need touching up. They must have seen me and my insecurities and thought: kerr-ching!’

Alicia is now building a skincare company. Yet the legacy of her addiction will stay with her forever.

‘I look at pictures of myself before I had surgery and realise I wasn’t bad looking. I wish one of those doctors had told me to get help. I have had a lot of reconstructive work done by very good surgeons but now I look in the mirror and all I see is scars.’