Something shifted in Hollywood this summer. When renowned plastic surgeon Terry Dubrow observed a steady stream of confessional Instagram and TikTok posts unfold, he wondered: Is the long-standing taboo toward celebrity plastic surgery finally fading? And why are they all getting so honest now?
Dr. Dubrow, a board-certified plastic surgeon and reality TV show star, is more knowledgeable than most about the inner workings of the entertainment industry’s effects on the medical world (and vice versa). Best known for his role on E!’s longtime hit series Botched, and his marriage to Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow, the famed doctor is embarking on a different kind of endeavor with his new show, Botched Presents: Plastic Surgery Rewind, which digs into the regrets some patients experience decades after going under the knife. “Maybe they didn’t regret it at the time, but they certainly do now that they’re 10, 15 years older,” he tells The Daily Beast. “They go, ‘Whoa, I can’t believe I made such a big decision for my [older] self at age 21.’”
Regarding the celebrity world’s sudden spike in frankness, the doctor feels somewhat conflicted. “[There’s] this huge wave of, ‘It’s perfectly OK to have plastic surgery, it’s fabulous,’” he says. “But it’s a double-edged sword, because plastic surgery is still surgery. It still has the same risks and complications.”
After writing story upon story for The Daily Beast about celebrities’ newfound bluntness, I had to ask: How did we get here?
Truth Be Told
As with countless cultural zeitgeists from the last decade, the Kardashians are involved.
Dr. Dubrow credits the Kardashian-Jenner family for kickstarting the candid conversations on all things plastic. “They’ve completely moved the needle towards full transparency,” Dr. Dubrow tells me. The “Kardashian look” has long been a topic of speculation—and the subject of criticism—concerning cosmetic enhancements, from Kylie’s famous pout, which drew attention to lip fillers (though years of denial had a similar effect), to Kim’s curves and the ongoing debate of whether she can thank genetics or injections for them.
After Kylie’s TikTok response to a fan’s request for her details on her breast augmentation, Khloé’s comment that credited “good doctors” for her look, and momager Kris’s surgeon revealing the how she rejuvenated her face’s youthful glow, we’ve witnessed a rapid ripple effect throughout Hollywood, with stars like Barbara Corcoran and Kristen Cavallari following suit. “It’s really amazing—this full transparency,” Dr. Dubrow says.
Discretion was once considered the standard approach to plastics, but more A-listers than ever are revealing the precise nips, tucks, fillers, and lifts they’ve undergone. Forget blind tabloid items with anonymous sources and unnamed stars—the minutiae of procedures performed on specific celebrities by specific doctors are now posted directly to social media by the surgeons and their famous clients alike.
Having started his career in the 1980s, Dr. Dubrow has had a front-row seat to the spikes and stalls of shifting attitudes. He juxtaposes the secrecy surrounding surgery in the 1980s and tabloid rumors of the ’90s with the transparency of 2025, which he considers unlike anything seen previously. Information now comes directly from the sources, including the patients themselves, rather than via speculation and rumor-milling on gossip sites. (That said, it’s near-impossible to peruse cosmetic content on TikTok without stumbling on a plastic surgeon musing about the supposed operations their celebrity target of the week has had done.)
“[Transparency] is a double-edged sword, because plastic surgery is surgery. It still has the same risks and complications.”— Dr. Terry Dubrow
Having recently relocated from a practice in Newport Beach to Beverly Hills, Dr. Dubrow says his office has witnessed an influx of individuals who no longer feel ashamed to get work done as a result of the rise in celebrity reveals. “[There’s] this huge wave of, ‘It’s perfectly OK to have plastic surgery, it’s fabulous,’” he says. “But that’s a double-edged sword, because plastic surgery is surgery. It still has the same risks and complications.”
When I ask whether he feels transparency is hurting or helping the average person, Dr. Dubrow considers the question before answering, “I think both.”
If He Could Turn Back Time
From the operating rooms to reality TV, the surgeon has spent decades at the intersection of plastic surgery and pop culture, fixing botched procedures, correcting regrets, and witnessing unrealistic standards erode people’s perceptions of their faces. Recently, however, Dr. Dubrow says he’s noticed a swift transition from the feature-amplifying transformations we’ve long observed on our social media feeds to an approach that seeks to de-emphasize and shrink.
“There was a period where [the attitude was] the bigger the lips, the bigger the buttocks, the bigger the breast, the more altered the appearance, the better,” Dr. Dubrow tells me. “Now, there is a regression back towards… ‘less is better.’” With Plastic Surgery Rewind, which made its E! and Peacock debut on July 9, the doctor gives audiences an inside look at the physical and emotional struggles of nine plastic surgery-obsessed celebrities grappling with regret over procedures they underwent years ago.
Unfortunately, younger patients sometimes do not consider how their future selves might feel about, and be impacted by, their present-day decisions. “It’s not like marriage—you can always get divorced, move on, and marry someone else,” Dr. Dubrow says. “But once you have a procedure, you are, in many ways, forever married to that procedure.”
Instead of his usual Botched costar, fellow plastic surgeon Paul Nassif, Dr. Dubrow is joined on Plastic Surgery Rewind by psychotherapist and media personality Dr. Spirit and RuPaul’s Drag Race star Michelle Visage—who has been open about her past cosmetic procedures—Dubrow helps participants weigh the psychological toll of reversal or whether to simply accept the features that have become part of their personal brands.
The timing couldn’t be better, too. “I’m glad this show is just coming out right now,” he says. “We need the other side of that dialogue where it’s OK to have, and talk about, plastic surgery.” The show’s relevance and the celebrity subjects’ willingness to express their raw, remorseful feelings on TV reveal a hidden side of surgery: the insecurities that often lead to pursuing these procedures, and the often-overlooked regret that can sometimes follow.
“I couldn’t believe how willing these celebrities were to bear their emotions on camera,” Dr. Dubrow says. “I mean, I know they’re used to being on camera, so it’s easy for them [in that respect], but to talk about these kinds of verboten subjects was very interesting and kind of refreshing.”
In a culture driven by facades, filters, and unrealistic—if not unreachable—beauty ideals, Dr. Dubrow’s concern is not limited to botched outcomes and surgical complications. Self-image, and how it can be dramatically impacted when altering one’s appearance, keeps the surgeon up at night. He worries about what happens when people remove features that once gave them a sense of fulfillment, or even made them famous, then go on to alter (or reverse) those features, forcing them to consider how “rewinding” might affect everything from their self-esteem to their social media presence.
Life in Plastic, It’s…Fantastic?
Advocating for patients and providing honest consultations are among Dr. Dubrow’s top priorities. He considers the ability to restore hope and confidence in patients to be his “surgical superpower,” and wants cosmetic enhancement seekers to recognize that post-operation outcomes aren’t the only factor to consider before booking a consultation.
There are two common misconceptions that Dr. Dubrow wishes people would let go of. First, the belief that elective plastic surgery will always benefit patients. This is far from a universal truth, as illustrated by many of his past and present patients. The second is that cosmetic procedures can be approached as routinely and casually as visiting a masseuse or a hair salon.
“Filler should be looked at through the same serious lens as a major surgical procedure.”— Dr. Terry Dubrow
The ubiquity of nonsurgical options across reality television and social media has led many to take a lackadaisical attitude toward fillers, neurotoxins, and other treatments that should be administered only by trained professionals. After seeing patients whose fillers permanently altered their skin texture, blocked lymphatic channels, or caused long-term swelling even after being dissolved, he insists that “filler should be looked at through the same serious lens as a major surgical procedure.”
The surgeon begins every consultation with a simple question: “Why now?” Known for his openness as much as his warm, empathetic bedside manner, Dr. Dubrow isn’t afraid to suggest alternative options or even turn potential patients away. “My wife [Heather] always says, ‘Raise kids like you’re on camera,’” he says. “Plastic surgeons should give a consult like they’re on camera—not like you need to pay your rent that month at your Beverly Hills practice.”
Unfortunately, Dr. Dubrows sees some doctors urging patients to undergo more work than is necessary to achieve their desired result. “I can’t tell you how many times a patient will come with a little bit of deflational breast changes after having kids, and all they need is a small implant,” he laments. “Nine out of 10 plastic surgeons will talk them into a breast lift, too.”
“Transparency [about plastic surgery] is wonderful, but it needs to be contextualized with the other side of the coin.”— Dr. Terry Dubrow
While he welcomes the wave of celebrity honesty, Dr. Dubrow hopes the conversations don’t stop at grocery lists of procedures. If we’re going to celebrate what cosmetic work can offer, we need to approach it thoughtfully and holistically rather than concentrating on highly posed, beautifully lit before-and-afters. “The timing is perfect [for Plastic Surgery Rewind],” he says. “Transparency is wonderful, but it needs to be contextualized with the other side of the coin.”
The post Why Celebrities Suddenly Got So Honest About Their Plastic Surgery appeared first on The Daily Beast.
