'It was like being in a horror movie!' Cherry Healey talks cosmetic surgery show

Cosmetic surgery is more available and accessible than ever before, says Cherry Healey. But does this make it right? This is what she hopes to get to the bottom of in Sex, Knives & Liposuction.

The 37-year-old journalist and television presenter says she’s from the ‘judgy’ generation that saw plastic surgery as ‘shameful’ and ’embarrassing’ but the next generation now sees it almost as casually as changing one’s hair colour or receiving a spa treatment.

“I thought ‘right I’m a big judgy about plastic surgery.’ But I highlight my hair, wear high heels, I colour my nails and so who am I? Am I authentic? I don’t look like this! I’m pale and short and I’ve got brown hair! And my nails are in fact not blue. Where’s my line?” Healey told us.

In the three-part W series, Healey travels internationally to explore the rise in cosmetic surgery amongst women, and the long-lasting physical and psychological effects it can have on recipients.

“Girls have surgery because society tells them every single day that your value is in how you look you’re an ornament for my pleasure and if you don’t look nice you’re a bit cr**!” she said.

Sitting in on several procedures, she says she was most ‘horrified’ by watching British patient Keisha receive a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) in Turkey.

“She said when they put her to sleep she hadn’t fully fallen asleep yet. And when they tied her down on this crucifix-like table she was aware of it – but she couldn’t talk. So that’s the stuff that can be traumatising.

“They then stab her multiple, multiple times. You think there’s no more fat you can suck out of her. The doctor is chatting to me constantly as her body is flopping everywhere!

“It’s like being in a horror film! And then they take the blood and fat and put it into a giant syringe, flip her over like a chop and then inject it into her bum. It’s the most awful thing I’ve ever seen!” she said.

However, Keisha is more than happy with her procedure – and has already got her eyes set on the next one.

“She has already booked into something else – it’s addictive. I think she will now get more attention, be treated better and there is now an extra layer of happiness to her life,” Healey confirmed.

Sex, Lives & Liposuction starts Thursday 20 at 10pm on W.

Read more
Cherry Healey: I cried every day making cosmetic surgery show
Anna Friel hopes new ITV trans drama will educate viewers
Kylie Jenner says she’s bullied by the ‘whole world’ in emotional video