Q & A

Q. Is your book, “how not to get botched” only available as an ebook from your website?

A. Yes. I want it to be instantly available to everyone considering any type of aestheic treatment, which is not possible with a physical book. I wrote How Not To Get Botched in response to the astounding increase in patients who contact me for advice after receiving disappointing results.

In the past, clients consulted with me before they had any procedures. Today, most of my new clients have already had various types of non-surgical and surgical procedures, and often express some degree of dissatisfaction with their choices. They all made similar mistakes. My essential new book reveals these common pitfalls and how to avoid being next. Click on the title to buy and instantly download How Not To Get Botched.

Q. Do you have any conditions for accepting clients?

A. Anyone considering using my service should be able to answer “yes” to all three questions below.

Q. What if i just have one simple question?

A. One question inevitably leads to a dozen more in this complex field. If it’s truly a simple question that does not require my hard-earned specialist expertise or insider knowledge, the answer can probably be found elsewhere.

Like everyone with an online presence, my site receives lots of random inquiries. I don’t have time or resources to divert from my clients and consultancy to respond to them, so please don’t take it personally if your general web enquiry cannot be addressed. However everyone wishing to have all their questions about procedures and doctors answered in depth and comprehensively may book a private consultation. Click here.

Q. How do your treatment plans differ from a cosmetic surgeon or aesthetic clinic assessment?

A. Having an independent treatment plan saves a lot of time and money, especially for those wishing to have more than one procedure. My individually tailored plan may include treatment across different specialties. Whereas a single medical practice typically only offers the options available within their clinic.

Increasingly, those who unwittingly act on the monumental amount of disinformation on the internet (including widespread fake reviews and manipulated images that have become the norm) end up requiring revision again and again as they try to reverse earlier procedures or have things done in completely the wrong order, zigzagging all over the place in a futile attempt to attain their ideal result. I’m seeing more and more clients who have been through that expensive and fruitless process.

It’s obviously far better for your health and well-being to have a solid treatment plan and get it right the first time. And not only to save time and money, but to avoid needing revision, which is often more complex with a less predictable outcome – plus the fewer general anaesthetics you have the better.

Q. Does anyone else do what you do?

A. No – no one else in the world works the way I do, has my extensive experience from both sides of the scalpel, or has a track record going back over 35 years. Additionally, my own results have stood the test of time.

Q. You must regret not trademarking the term “Extreme Makeover” back in the 1980s. How did you come up with it?

A. No regrets. If I’d trademarked it, it may not have gone into everyday use. Knowing that I contributed something to modern parlance is enough. Back in the 1980s and 1990s when I was doing a lot of media appearances, I always referred to my transformation as an “Extreme Makeover.” No one had ever used cosmetic surgery in that way before, so of course there was no name for it, or even any reason for such a term to exist. Others picked up on it and started repeating it.

I thought of it because, growing up in the 60s, I was always fascinated by the before and after pictures of hair & makeup “makeovers,” as they were called, in the women’s magazines my mother bought. My transformation was like those makeovers (and was no doubt inspired by them), but extreme, so I put the two words together and coined the term Extreme Makeover. Now 35 years later it’s widely used, including to describe things like home improvements and it’s even in dictionaries.

PROPHETIC INTERVIEW: My first magazine cover was for Mensa, where I said back in 1991: “In 20 years a lot of people will be doing what I’m doing.” My 2023 interview: “In less than 20 years a lot of people will also be doing what I am doing now with my revolutionary Extreme Anti-aging.” It is also way ahead of its time.

Q. Where are yoU located?

A. I’m based in London England and consult worldwide online. Video consultations are as popular as in-person ones and are equally beneficial. There’s little difference between in-person and virtual consultations, except of course I don’t get the pleasure of meeting my clients in person, and they have the advantage of not having to leave the comfort of their own homes.

My enduring trademark style has always been timeless European elegance – never appearing obvious, overdone or outdated. Therefore I only suggest doctors who share this aesthetic and to whom I would entrust (or have entrusted) my own life and looks. They are mainly based in the UK.

Q. Your picture appears online in association with some clinics and doctors. does that mean you endorse them?

A. Absolutely not. I don’t do endorsements Beware of any doctor or clinic who displays my picture on their website or in their practice; it is a clear indication that I do not recommend them.  None of my actual practitioners would use my picture (or that of any other patient) without my permission.

Please report any practitioner or clinic using my images here.

Q. How old are you? your age keeps changing on wikipedia and is different in every article.

A. Ignore whatever age Wikipedia randomly decides to assign me at any given moment. It’s not a reliable source, as they freely admit. My private details, including my exact date and place of birth, have never been in the public domain. Therefore they are simply made up to fill in the blanks. And that is fine; it protects my real details from identity theft.

My age: I’m 66. But that’s only my chronological age. According to my telomere analysis and advanced diagnostics, the biological age of my body and brain is years younger. The cumulative effect of various aesthetic procedures enables me to make the most of that inner vitality on the outside.

21st Century anti-aging

Q. What’s wrong with “growing old gracefully?”

A. Nothing, it’s just not for me. I have no intention of growing old and sick in the conventional sense. Instead, I will continue to roll back the years from the inside out, never looking or feeling my chronological age, always working to maintain the younger biological and perceived age I’ve created. Further armed with my complete DNA and telomere profiles, I can monitor known inherited genetic variants that may or may not manifest. Such advantages didn’t exist back in the day when the expression “growing old gracefully” was coined.

Q. did you mind being called barbie by the media?

A. I didn’t when I was young, but I outgrew that label decades ago –  I’m in my 60s! Also, as a Baby Boomer, the original Barbie dolls of my youth looked very, very different. Being called Barbie in this day and age has a completely different connotation.

The original Barbie doll is also a Boomer.

I was first called Barbie by a British tabloid in the 1980s and I went along with it because, frankly, I got paid a fortune to dress up like Barbie. (I joke that it’s my shameful past – like actresses who posed naked to pay their rent before they made it big!) With no startup funding, all my “Barbie” money was invested in my consultancy.

It was a bit of fun I never meant literally; Barbie is a plastic doll and my look has always been very natural by design. Although Barbie was marketed as a “teenage fashion model,” I got away with wearing those Barbie outfits in my 30s and beyond due to the success of my Extreme Makeover, which made me appear far younger than I was.

Now in my 60s, I obviously moved on decades ago. No one is doing the same things they did over 30 years ago. Yet newly made-up clickbait articles claiming I had some ridiculous number of operations to look like Barbie keep being churned out, like it’s still the 1980s, with screaming headlines as if they’d just discovered the Holy Grail. Such articles are normally illustrated with “news” pictures of me from 10, 20 or 30 years ago, since all my more recent ones are watermarked.

Those rehashed 1980s Barbie stories are more dated than leg warmers and shoulder pads! You cannot live in the past in this rapidly evolving field without looking like a dinosaur, and I always stay way ahead of the curve. Clickbait writers are clueless about the truly groundbreaking aspects of aesthetics that I’ve been involved with in recent decades.

Don’t call me Barbie – it’s 2023 & I’m in my 60s!
The doll is an eternal teenager, so I’m old enough
to be Barbie’s great-grandmother!

Q. How much surgery have you actually had and how much money did you spend? Reports vary quite a lot. Did you really have 47 full-scale operations?

A. Absolutely not. That number appears online a lot, as does 43, 47. 52, and 55, but anyone can easily tell by looking at me that I obviously have not had many full-scale operations. Remember – the crazier, more far-fetched the made-up claims, the better clickbait performs. In a media world where money-earning clicks are king, facts are irrelevant. 

Having dozens of operations is not healthy and would never look natural. Optimum health and a natural look have always been central to my long term plan. My surgical procedures were combined under relatively few operations. As I have repeatedly stated, most of my “procedures” were not full-scale operations.

No one except me knows exactly what I have or have not had done. LIke my date of birth, that is not public information. I am here to help others look and feel their best, not to disclose personal information that will be distorted and used damage my reputation, and to misinform others.

Nonetheless, the clickbait media, which incorporates more “trusted” sites than you might imagine, continues to churn out brand new made-up variations of my surgical procedures and life story. Many even give the impression that they spoke to me personally, when they have not. I do get a lot of it taken down since they illegally publish my copyright pictures alongside their hogwash. However, I keep records of it all for a future project. When you are handed lemons, make lemonade…

In terms of money,  I’ve spent (“invested” is a more appropriate term) around £60,000 ($75,000) in total since 1987, which I quickly made back from early media interviews and legal victories for libel and copyright infringement cases. (I own exclusive legal copyright to all my photos.)

To sum up, it simply isn’t necessary, or advisable, to have dozens of operations or spend vast fortunes to achieve fantastic improvements. Quality over quantity, always.

Q.  Why aren’t you on Television as often as you used to be? 

A.  I’ve appeared on hundreds of TV shows all over the world since 1988, although going public was never part of my plan. That happened by chance when a journalist friend convinced me to give my story to him for a one-off feature in a UK national paper. But overnight I was demand as the world’s first Extreme Makeover and the only patient speaking publicly about cosmetic surgery.

Most of my early appearances were fair and positive experiences. TV shows were respectful, informative, and paid extremely well for interviews. However it’s a very different time now and the media is a very different commodity. so I walked away. The ruthless bid for higher ratings and having to compete for eyeballs with streaming services and the internet means that the truth is now often completely irrelevant. My appearances were often edited to portray a false narrative. As with online clickbait, TV executives are very well aware that sensationalism, negativity, and conflict are proven to sell, so that’s what they produce.

I’ve spent a lot of time behind the scenes and witnessed firsthand how some of these shows are made. I’ve seen guests being told what to say and encouraged to lie. I’ve listened to researchers swear blind the show is about a particular topic, but when the cameras roll, it’s a completely different story. I’ve watched botched patients being exploited and treated like freaks to attract ratings. I’ve observed incompetent doctors being promoted as gods. And in several cases when I was on shows with guests pretending to be fiercely opposed to cosmetic surgery, I was approached by those very same guests for cosmetic surgery advice!

These days I only agree to appear on live news and the more intelligent, balanced programs where I can share my expertise.

Obviously there are plenty of people who don’t mind being set up for public humiliation and will do anything be on TV, including handing over control of their image and reputation to the downmarket media. But as part of my anti-aging and healthy life plan, I avoid unnecessary stress, negativity, and toxic situations whenever possible.

When the truth and people’s lives are manipulated for ratings, it’s harmful to the mental health of the participants and viewers alike. Many of these shows are directly responsible for their viewers ending up botched due to their wilful misinformation, and they take zero responsibility for that.

Q. Have you always gone to the same doctorS?

A. No, that wouldn’t even be possible considering I started over 35 years ago. I’ve been to many, many doctors over the years, regularly replacing them when they retired, situations changed or talented new doctors moved up through the ranks. I’m always amazed when some long-retired surgeon tells me they were contacted by a patient who’d heard, often mistakenly, that I went to him or recommended him way back in the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, etc.

Additionally, I choose different doctors for different procedures, for my clients and myself, depending many individual factors.

Q. Why are natural-looking results so important?

A. The natural look has been scientifically proven to be by far the most attractive to observers. Genuinely age-defying, beautifully authentic results are the Holy Grail of results and require exceptional skills to produce.

Every millimetre matters. Whereas heavy-handed, obvious-looking plastic surgery is far less challenging for the doctor. (As is overly conservative surgery.)

Talented surgeons produce beautiful results that enhance individual character and personality. Patients with overdone or unnatural results often end up with a similar generic appearance.

The “operated-on” look is outdated and reminiscent of an era before sophisticated techniques were available. For example, my mature clients don’t end up merely looking like an old person who’s had a facelift – instead they appear convincingly much younger than their years. Looking “plastic” goes against the very  premise of anti-aging; youth by definition calls for a fresh and natural appearance.

In addition, unnatural or asymmetrical surgical results will age badly, appearing increasingly odd as years go by. We’ve all seen well-known cases of this in the media. Previously overdone patients seeking “make-under” surgery is a growing trend. Only natural-looking results will stand the test of time.

Most concerning however, is that fake-looking surgery can be a sign of risky practice where more advanced medical competence is lacking generally.

Many of my clients are in the public eye, top executives or otherwise in positions of responsibility & respect who keep their procedures a closely guarded secret. Having credibility and being taken seriously is an important part of their personal and professional identity. They also wish to look naturally young and attractive, so their worst nightmare would be ending up with a wind-tunnel face, fish lips, over-filled pillow face, expressionless eyes, denture-like veneers, gigantic silicone breasts, over-inflated buttocks, crudely tattooed eyebrows or any other unrealistic result that instantly lowers the bearer’s credibility and perceived I.Q. From an anthropological viewpoint, intelligence, attraction and natural selection are intrinsically linked with success.

The pandemic increased video communication and conferencing and obvious surgery is very noticeable on webcam, whereas natural results are not. Whether your face appears on the silver screen or the computer screen, the camera loves facial symmetry and classic proportion.

Below: The rose on the left is obviously fake. But you can’t tell if the one on the right is real or not. This illustrates the difference between inferior cosmetic surgery results and the absolute best. (FYI they are both fake!)

Truly excellent results always replicate natural beauty.

Q. There’s so much information on the internet, why not just research online?

A. This topic is examined in my book How Not To Get Botched – essential reading for all patients, but especially eye-opening for those who use the internet to do their research. Most botched or otherwise dissatisfied patients who come to me for help based their choices on information they found on the internet. Some of the latest treatments and best doctors are not prominent on the internet or all over social media.

Q.  What about cosmetic surgery advice Sites and forums? 

A.  Again this topic is explored in my book How Not To Get Botched. Its well known such sites may contain planted reviews, fake case histories, outdated (over 6 months old) posts, manipulated pictures, paid-for ratings, and conflicting medical opinions. Like Wikipedia, these sites depend on anonymous contributors with unknown agendas to supply the bulk of their content. What could possibly go wrong?!

Q. CAN YOU NAME ANY OF YOUR CELEBRITY CLIENTS?

A. Sorry, no. Everyone’s secrets are safe with me. Each client’s privacy is equally respected whether or not they are famous.

However I can share something else that is interesting. Since my high profile clients often retain my services to help them through their surgical process from beginning to end, including assisting with travel arrangements and hospital admissions, I work with their passport details and medical forms. And it’s not unusual for these to reveal that they are on average 3 to 6 years older than they claim, having used a younger age when they first began their careers. That is why my Extreme Anti-Aging treatment plans are so popular with celebrities. They wish to look even younger than they claim to be, which is older than they actually are!

Q. Why aren’t there any before and after photos of your clients on your site?

A. See 1st paragraph of the above answer. I’m fanatical about client confidentiality.

Another reason is that my clients achieve unusually beautiful results. Their incredible transformation photos would be widely stolen, copied and used out of context elsewhere around the internet, just as mine have been. They too would be exploited for clickbait and misleadingly posted online by self-promoting clinics and doctors I’ve never heard of.

My own before and after pictures remain the best examples of what can be achieved. However I do have permission from certain clients to show their before and after pictures during consultations, where they may only be seen by other private clients.

Q. Is cosmetic surgery painful?

A. Not when properly performed. Although there may be moments of discomfort and inconvenience, if it were truly painful and difficult to manage, so many millions of people around the world wouldn’t have it.

Q. How much has being a member of Mensa helped  with your choices of surgery and doctors?

A. That’s hard to say. Over the years I’ve met many highly intelligent, extremely capable people who made terrible errors in judgement with their health, looks and money after trusting the wrong information. There is no substitute for being an insider with access to genuine factual data, observing thousands of case histories firsthand and and having direct access to top medical professionals.

In addition, my lifelong habits of using common sense, exercising extreme caution, fact-checking and making choices based on verified information have all been essential. Not forgetting my art and photography training, which enables me to view the human form in an analytical manner that others don’t seem to – an ability that top doctors also possess.

The combination of all of the above, along with knowing the full selection of available procedures and works and what doesn’t, gives as much a guarantee of success as it’s possible to have.

Q. If you weren’t doing what you do, which career would you have chosen instead?

A. Photography is what I originally trained for, so I would have pursued it full time. I had my first published picture at age 16, and my images are still being published today. Since qualifying as a professional photographer in the 1970s, I’ve never stopped taking pictures, including all my before, during & after shots. I manage a vast photographic library of my own copyright images and films. Photography continues to play a crucial role in my career.

Q. NOW that you’re IN YOUR 60S, Do you have any plans to retire?

A. Never. I really enjoy my work and meeting my lovely clients. There are always new things to learn in this rapildy-evolving field, which helps keep me young and at the absolute cutting edge of aesthetics.

I also depend on my research for my own health, anti-aging and aesthetic needs, so I would lose out if I retired. In my sixties and beyond, it’s more important than ever to continue having access to exclusive ever-changing inside information that is unavailable to the public.

The cumulative up-to-the-minute knowledge I continue to gain from my ongoing research from exclusive sources such as conversations with top doctors, medical conferences, surgeons’ private webinars, and – most importantly – clients’ genuine case histories (I learn something from every single client) grows in leaps and bounds every year. No one else on the planet connects the dots across these specialities – or puts them into practice every single day both personally and professionally.

It’s impossible to obtain factual information or know how to get the very best results without being an insider. With the ever-expanding torrent of misinformation about aesthetics and anti-aging to help my clients safely navigate, I have a job for life.

Q.  Why aren’t you on social media, and where did your blog go?

A. Everything concerning m consultancy is here on my website so there’s nothing to post on social media. Nor do I feel the need to put my private life on the internet or seek attention or validation from strangers. I am also not comfortable with the context: I do not want my face appearing among the incessant stream of filtered selfies and women pouting into their phones. It’s been bad enough having my pictures stolen to appear in trashy made-up clickbait articles over the years.

I started in 1987, so my career is well-established. There is no need to market or advertise my consultancy. I am not in show business or retail, so spending precious time trying to attract a multitude of anonymous “likes” and followers makes no sense in my case.

Every time you “like” something on social media, or click on the bait, it’s used to profile you for targeted advertising. Social media is also used for monetised advertising and exploitation of your personal data. It is designed to be highly addictive to the human brain. People’s attention spans are shortened by mindless scrolling. That’s not how I choose to spend my time. (Of course I use the internet. I just don’t let it use me.) A lot of eminent medical professionals, academics and others at the very top of their game are not on social media either, so I am in very good company.

Always the revolutionary – I’m not on social media.

As for my blog, I took it down after seeing it copied and pasted elsewhere by others dishonestly taking credit for my research and putting their own names to my words, even translating it into different languages, accompanied by my copyright photos. Several opportunist YouTubers even voiced over their YouTube videos by reading my blog posts aloud, claiming it as their original content. (Apparently common practice among certain vloggers.) But that’s the internet!

Today we have a choice of two worlds: There is the online world with its fake news, virtual friends, and manipulated images. Or there is the real world with real facts, real friends, and real experiences. I choose the real world. Instead of the current unhealthy trend of constantly gazing into a computer screen or scrolling for hours on end, my downtime is spent enjoying good times with people, animals and nature in the great outdoors. Pursuits that nourish body, mind and spirit also play an essential role in health, beauty and anti-aging.

Hiking in the Austrian Alps. No internet connection – bliss!

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