We love it when our favorite celebrities open up about different things in their lives — parenthood, mental health, and even plastic surgery. Some stars, like Kylie Minogue and Cate Blanchett, are wildly against even minor procedures like Botox, while others love to get occasional work done and will tell you every detail, like the Kardashians, Chrissy Teigen, or Sharon Osbourne. And we love the honesty of both! While a few decades back it was taboo for celebs to admit to getting procedures like nose jobs or breast implants, stars today tend to be more open about whether or not they’re willing to go under the knife — and a growing number of stars have been sharing the choice not just to get breast implants, but to get them removed.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, breast implant removals were up 9% from 2022 to 2023, so maybe it’s no surprise that we’re increasingly hearing about cases that didn’t work out with celebrity women. Each star has their own story of why the procedure didn’t work out, and the details wildly vary.
Some celebs like Adrienne Bailon and Heather Morris just didn’t like the look of having larger breasts on themselves. And some — like Yolanda Hadid and Crystal Hefner — ended up in the hospital because of the side effects or recalls. Every celebrity has their story and we love hearing the details.
Read on to learn more about some of our favorite celebrity women who got their breast implants removed and why they had it done.
A version of this article was originally published in Nov. 2021.
Ashley Tisdale
In 2020, Ashley Tisdale got refreshingly candid on Instagram about why she chose to remove her breast implants. “Little by little I began struggling with minor health issues that just were not adding up—food sensitivities as well as gut issues that I thought could be caused by my implants,” the High School Musical alum wrote. “So, last winter I decided to undergo implant removal.”
“This picture above was taken two months after my explant surgery and I think you can tell just how happy I am to finally be fully me,” she continued.
Mena Suvari
Mena Suvari opened up about removing her implants in 2019 in her memoir, The Great Peace.
“I would catch myself so many times realizing, ‘I have these bags in my chest.’ And I didn’t have that connection as to why I truly did it,” she wrote, per People. “There was a lack of appreciation on my part. So I just sort of felt like, ‘Who am I and what am I doing?’ I had gone to this extent, to such extremes, looking for this identity.”
Michelle Visage
RuPaul’s Drag Race judge Michelle Visage got her breast implants removed due to the autoimmune disorder, Hashimoto’s disease back in 2019.
“I kept coming back to the fact that when you get implants, you sign off, and on the paperwork it says that complaints of autoimmune disorders have been reported but there is no conclusive evidence that implants cause this,” Visage told People. “It felt like they were just negating everything they have heard over and over.”
“If you think about it, your immune system fights off invaders, and the biggest invaders in my body are two giant blobs of silicone,” she explained. “My autoimmune disease could be triggered by these invaders. So they needed to come out.”
Chrissy Teigen
Back in 2020, Chrissy Teigen decided to get breast implant removal surgery just because she was, simply put, over it! Her daughter Luna even wrote her mom a note saying “bye-bye” to her boobies.
“They’ve been great to me for many years but I’m just over it,” Tiegen wrote on Instagram. “I’d like to be able to zip a dress in my size, lay on my belly with pure comfort! No biggie! So don’t worry about me! All good.”
“I’ll still have boobs, they’ll just be pure fat,” she hilariously continued. “Which is all a tit is in the first place. A dumb, miraculous bag of fat. ❤️”
Ayesha Curry
Ayesha Curry responded to Chrissy Teigen’s news of her breast implant removal surgery with a story of her own. She commented saying she had surgery in 2019. “Life-changing, you’re gonna love it,” she said. “I got mine out last year. They were making me so sick.”
Clare Crawley
Former Bachelorette star Clare Crawley opened up to her fans about having her breast implants removed back in 2021.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but they truly are the most compassionate team who truly want to help women like me heal from BII (Breast Implant Illness),” she wrote on Instagram, per Today. “On top of that, having the overwhelming support and love from family and friends has just meant the world to me.”
“Having you all give me a boost when my brain has slipped into moments of doubt, truly lifted me up,” she continued. “And so I will continue to pass It on to anyone else who needs to hear this… our body shape does not define us or make us any less lovable or worthy. We are perfectly made just the way we are!”
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Beckham recently admitted in an Allure interview that she had the implants in and then later removed them. “I don’t have those anymore,” she said. “I think I may have purchased them.”
Yolanda Hadid
Proud momma and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Yolanda Hadid revealed in a body-positive Instagram post she had breast implant removal surgery. “Living in a body free of breast implants, fillers, Botox, extensions, and all the BS I thought I needed in order to keep up with what society conditioned me to believe what a sexy woman should look like until the toxicity of it all almost killed me,” she wrote.
Tori Spelling
In 2021, Beverly Hills, 90210 alum Tori Spelling removed her breast implants after a recall. She said in an episode of Whine Down with Jana Kramer in October 2021, “See, no one told me when I got mine done that, in 10 years, you would have to get them redone.”
Tamra Judge
The Real Housewives of Orange County alum Tamra Judge revealed in early 2021 on her Instagram story that she was ready for a breast implant removal surgery. She got them removed due to “autoimmune issues” and that she was “so over having large breasts that seem to get bigger with age.”
Melissa Rycroft
Back in 2020, Bachelor alum Melissa Rycroft joined the “itty bitty titty committee” again after posting this hospital picture to her Instagram. “After one reconstructive surgery, and one implant that refused to settle right (even after reconstruction), my body was telling me they didn’t want these implants in!” she explained.
Crystal Hefner
Crystal Hefner wrote a powerful post to her Facebook page in 2016 titled, “My Breast Implants Slowly Poisoned Me.” She talked about how her implants poisoned her over time, making her super sick. But she decided to remove them in 2016 and felt better almost instantaneously.
“Instantly I noticed my neck and shoulder pain was gone and I could breathe much better,” Hefner said, per People. “I know I won’t feel 100% overnight. My implants took 8 years to make me this sick, so I know it will take time to feel better. I also have other illnesses to address, but with the toxic bags removed, my immune system can focus on what it needs to.”
Adrienne Bailon
Former Disney star Adrienne Bailon revealed in an episode of The Real back in 2013 that she got implants when she was 19. She got the removal surgery soon after saying, “I got my breast implants taken out because I looked crazy.”
Pamela Anderson
Arguably the most popular celebrity case of breast implant removal surgery is when Pamela Anderson got hers removed back in 1999. “It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time and I’m very happy with my decision,” she said at the time, per People.
Heather Morris
Former Glee starlet Heather Morris said she instantly regretted getting breast implants put in and scheduled the removal ASAP. She told FitnessMagazine, per Health, “Implants were something I thought I wanted when I was younger, and now I don’t.” She added, “It was hard being active with them because my chest was always sore.”
Heidi Montag
Back in 2010, The Hills star Heidi Montag got plastic surgery to get size F breast implants. But she got them out three years later because they hurt her so much. “They were so heavy they were falling through the skin,” she told People. “It was just too heavy for my body and I was in pain and uncomfortable all the time. I thought, ‘What do I need this big of breasts for?’ ”
Sharon Osbourne
Sharon Osbourne took a break from hosting back in 2011 and many wondered why. Eventually, she revealed it was because she needed breast implant removal surgery. “One morning I woke up and one of my boobies was kind of much longer than the other…. [one implant] leaked into the wall of my stomach.” But she’s very happy about getting them removed!
Stevie Nicks
Legendary singer Stevie Nicks got breast implants in 1976. However, in the early 1990s, she felt like there was a problem and there was — they were literally broken. She got the removal surgery in 1994 and hasn’t looked back.
Courtney Love
Hole singer Courtney Love got breast implants back in the 1990s, but when she later got them removed, she kept them as a souvenir. And then one of her dogs ate one in 2002.
Jane Fonda
While Jane Fonda is against plastic surgery now, she actually got breast implants over 30 years ago. Long story short, she hated them and got them removed ASAP.
Jenny McCarthy
Host Jenny McCarthy has gotten both breast implants and breast implant removal surgery. But instead of getting her implants out altogether, she opts for smaller ones every time. She once said, “Women have to get their ‘tires rotated’ so to speak every 10 years.”
Tara Reid
Tara Reid sadly ended up getting botched plastic surgery on her breasts. She wanted them to be even, but the surgery ended up being unsuccessful. Then she did another one before getting them removed and opting for reconstructive surgery instead.
Danica Patrick
Former NASCAR driver Danica Patrick revealed to FOX News in 2022 that she decided to get her breast implants removed after nearly a decade to relieve her of her health complications. She said, “I started feeling better within hours after surgery.” She also said that over time, her breast implants became “deformed” adding: “The doctor said … my scar tissue capsules were both folded inside the implant. They had shrunk up so much from so much scar tissue forming that they were deformed.”
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