TOWIE Stars' Surgery Mishaps: From Sophie Kasaei's Painful Butt Lift to Yazmin Oukhellou's 'Duck Lips' - OK! Magazine

The Only Way Is Essex star Mario Falcone left fans gobsmacked with his new look post-eye surgery earlier this week. The 36 year old had previously shared about his insecurities caused by his 'hooded' eyelids and went under the knife in June to fix them. Yet a top plastic surgeon suggested that Mario's surgery had 'failed' as it looked 'very obvious he'd had it done.'

Mario wouldn't be the first TOWIE star to experience alleged issues with their surgeries. Lauren Goodger wasn't happy with her Brazilian Bum Lift (BBL) and Sophie Kasaei's treatment shockingly nearly cost her her life. Yet still celebrities continue to go under the knife. Speaking exclusively to OK!, top plastic surgeon and senior medical director at CREO Clinic Dr Omar Tillo revealed why they do it.

'People often get cosmetic surgery to fix a specific problem they feel self-conscious about, helping them gain confidence and feel better about their body,' he explained. 'However, a minority of people seek surgery to fit into beauty standards or look like celebrities. Public figures, such as TOWIE stars, are usually under a lot of pressure to maintain a certain image, which can lead them to choose surgery to stay in the spotlight.'

He added that cosmetic surgery and have positive effects, when carried out by skilled professional, saying: 'There's nothing wrong with getting surgery if it makes you feel better about yourself, as long as you choose a reputable and experienced surgeon.'

Here, OK! takes a look at some of the show's star's who've suffered major problems with their surgeries...

Sophie Kasaei, who first rose to fame on Geordie Shore, joined the cast of TOWIE in 2023 after sparking a romance with fellow star Jordan Brooks. The 34 year old reality star confessed that her stint on the show led to insecurities about her looks, and she succumbed to the allure of free cosmetic procedures abroad, including a breast augmentation and Brazilian Bum Lift, the latter performed in a dilapidated Turkish hospital.

She also fell into a dangerous cycle of lip filler addiction, once resulting in a botched job that left her resembling 'the elephant man.'

In 2022, Sophie opted for a breast reduction, downsizing her E-cup bust to a more manageable C-cup, and underwent a reverse tummy tuck and corrective surgery for her previous Brazilian Bum Lift (BBL). Sophie shared a harrowing account of how she 'almost died' following the disastrous BBL procedure in Turkey when she was just 24.

The TV star revealed she was enticed by promises of a 'Kim Kardashian figure', but instead endured 'agonising' consequences due to the poorly executed operation. Sophie suffered a potentially fatal abscess, leading to an emergency operation to drain a litre of pus from her left buttock.

She shared with her fans: 'After the healing process, six weeks or eight weeks later, I started getting a pain in my left bum cheek and I was in agony.'

Sophie was holidaying in Mexico when the incident occurred, and she was immediately rushed to the hospital where she was put on a drip. 'They were saying there was an abscess in there and if that burst, you would be dead.' Upon returning to Newcastle, she had to head straight to the hospital to have the abscess drained.

She detailed: 'They drained one litre of puss. It was so traumatic. Getting it packed was the worst pain in the world - I screamed the hospital down. It was just hell. I felt ill, I couldn't walk, my whole leg was numb. I couldn't even sit on it. It was just absolute agony. Eventually the wound healed but was forming this horrendous scar which was leaving this shark-type scar.'

Reflecting on Sophie's surgeries, Dr Tillo warned: 'This isn’t the first time that a person has nearly passed away during their cosmetic surgery abroad. Getting cosmetic surgery abroad can be quite popular as the costs are usually cheaper, however this always comes with risks due to the standard of care.'

Dani, who joined the show back in 2021, underwent a Brazilian bum lift in 2022 which left her 'at death's door' and 'crying every day'.

She opened up to OK! about her procedure, saying: 'It is something I always wanted,I didn't want anything massive. I didn't want a huge Nicki Minaj bum, but mine was like a pancake. I just wanted a body in proportion. I always had boobs and no bum - I wanted a bit more meat on my bottom half!'

Revealing what happened afterwards, Dani told us: 'I had some complications and was in hospital for four or five days. I felt like I was at death's door. I was crying every day. I was on morphine, swollen for weeks and couldn't believe what I'd done.'

She urged other girls considering surgery to think about it thoroughly and consider the recovery time. She admitted: 'I'm happy with the result, but It was an intense experience. I didn't need to put myself through that trauma and I wouldn't do it again.'

Yazmin, who quit TOWIE in January after six years on the show, revealed the aftermath of her botched lip filler procedure after promising to dissolve her 'duck lips'. She informed her fans that she had her lips enhanced in Dubai, but the injections 'went wrong'.

After having the filler removed from her lips, Yaz, 30, confessed to The Sun: 'I kept overfilling my lips getting more and more put in. I started looking stupid and like a duck.

'The final straw for me was when I went to a family wedding and my mum and dad said 'the lip filler is getting a bit much now'. 'So I wanted to strip it back and be a bit more natural.

'Especially as I want to do more outside of Towie so I want to get taken more seriously. You can do both - get work done and have people take you seriously.

'It shouldn't have to be a choice, but it feels like it is sometimes.'

Charlie revealed how plunged to the 'depths of my despair' after a nose job went wrong. The reality star spoke during the Health and Social Care Committee about struggling with body dysmorphia, a condition which sees sufferers spending a lot of time worrying about physical flaws that are often unnoticeable to others. Charlie, 39, who was on TOWIE between 2012 and 2017, explained to MPs he became 'obsessed' with his nose in lockdown after breaking it when he was 18.

He claimed he may not even have had the surgery if there was better mental health support for people having cosmetic procedures. He said: 'During lockdown and being isolated and being on my own, my obsession turned to my nose because it had been broken 15, 20 years ago, whenever it was.'

Charlie said that he was in 'internal turmoil' for much of his teens and 20s and that one of the things he could control was his own image. The star said he decided to have surgery, which then didn't go 'to plan'.

Charlie recalled: 'It was something I just became obsessed with… 'It needs to change, I need to fix it, I need to go and see a plastic surgeon. So I did and the surgeon agreed, 'We can improve that', and with my nature as a person I got the validation that I need, so let's do it. I don't want to say botched nose job… I had a nose job that didn't go to plan.'

Charlie said he had to wait a year until his nose could be fixed and said that in that time he 'went to the depths of my despair.' He added: 'I had to move back and live with my mum because I couldn't earn money and I was depressed.'

Lauren Goodger has open about the cosmetic procedures she's undergone since finding fame on TOWIE, but has now shared her hopes of reversing some of the surgery she's had done. The reality TV star has admitted she feels 'uncomfortable' with certain parts of her body, especially since becoming a mum.

Lauren, 37, had a boob job in 2014, taking her from a 34D to an E. She explained how she decided to have her boobs enhanced after seeing a girl with hers done while on holiday in Antigua, and within a week of returning to the UK she'd undergone the surgery on London's Harley Street.

Three years later, Lauren underwent a Brazilian Butt Lift in Turkey in a bid to get the 'Kardashian' look. While she admitted she thinks she looked 'the boll*cks' after her surgery, she said she now wishes she'd 'never had anything'. She's also had a nose job, in a bid to refine her facial features.

Speaking about Lauren's BBL, plastic surgeon Dr Tillo said: 'Lauren has mentioned having a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL), a surgical procedure to augment and reshape the hips and buttocks. This procedure is often sought after for its ability to create a more defined and curvaceous silhouette however she has been open that she wasn’t happy with her results. This is an example of the risks of having surgery abroad, where desired outcomes may have not been discussed and communicated properly.'

But Dr Tillo finished by saying there are TOWIE success stories too, such as Amber Turner, who he called 'a positive example of cosmetic surgery,' saying: 'She underwent breast augmentation, and her results are noticeable but natural. Her increased confidence shows how plastic surgery, when done by a professional, can have a positive impact.'