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Victims of bad plastic surgery are a common sight these days, but Dr. Terry Dubrow says there is hope for all.
The husband of Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow, he joins another alum of the Bravo franchise, Dr. Paul Nassiff (aka the ex of Beverly Hills’ Adrienne Maloof) on the new E! series Botched, which debuted on June 24 and settles into its new time slot of 10 p.m. — following Keeping Up With the Kardashians — starting Sunday.
Dubrow and Nassiff, the superheroes called in to correct these injustices, are both faced with the most difficult surgeries of their careers. Among them: fixing supermodel Janice Dickinson’s 30-year-old implants, a cancer survivor’s “uniboob” and the face of a 34-year-old man who dreams of transforming himself into Justin Bieber.
But don’t look at this show as a vanity project. Dubrow says the show will ultimately be about helping people who have lost hope recovering from plastic surgery gone wrong, including “the crazies who have had too much.” Dubrow has plenty of experience in this field, having made his surgical debut on the show The Swan in 2003.
Dubrow spoke to The Hollywood Reporter on the morning of Botched‘s premiere.
Why does plastic surgery go wrong so often?
Usually due to a complication. The key thing is that plastic surgery is surgery with real risk. The number two reason is that some non-plastic surgeons are taking weekend courses and they don’t do a great job. And, of course, some patients go too far.
Like one of your Botched patients, Toby Sheldon, who wants to look like Justin Bieber. What drives someone to do that to himself?
That’s a good question. We asked him really intensely — why do you want to look like Justin Bieber and which version of Justin Bieber do you want to look like? When he’s losing his hair and gets fat, do you want to look like that Justin Bieber?” They get in their mind that this rock star or celebrity looks perfect. In Toby’s case, he is fascinated by music. He’s a writer and a musician and he thinks Justin Bieber is the perfect rock star. That’s who he wants to be.
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Tell us about Janice Dickinson.
She’s is in the second episode on Sunday. Janice has had a lot of plastic surgeries that she talks about, but her breast implants go back to the ’70s. She needed help. She was in a good place psychologically but because of the surgical experience — the pain and the swelling — it reverted her back to some of her old behavior patterns. I will say that she is the most challenging patient I have ever had in my 20 years as a plastic surgeon.
What exactly is a “uniboob?”
It’s pretty rare. The implants move toward the center [of the chest] and they cause the skin to push up over the chest. So instead of having two distinct breasts, you basically have one valve in the center where they are touching. That is the most difficult thing to fix in all of breast surgery. The first patient in the show had the worst case of it that I have ever seen in my life and that is what is so tricky and interesting about this show. This is the highest-risk plastic surgery and the most difficult, and we are doing it on national television.
Did Heather give you any advice about how you should portray yourself on the show?
My wife is very funny and very organized. I’m a little silly and easygoing. She said to me, “OK, you’re doing a plastic surgery show — be a doctor, don’t be a househusband. Don’t be that goofy guy. Be the serious guy you are at your practice.” I said, “Honey, I’m going to be myself. I’m not worried about editing, because they are not going to get me to look like something that I’m not — like they do on the Housewives.”
Twitter: @MicheleAmabile
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