Brandi Glanville has finally opened up about the ‘facial parasite’ that made her look 20 years older ‘overnight’.
In an interview with TMZ, Glanville revealed that a ruptured breast implant was the reason behind her facial parasite. The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” alum explained that her breast implants ruptured, leaked silicone inside her body and clogged her lymph nodes, which led to a nasty infection that caused her facial disfigurement.
“I had silicone all over my lymph nodes. That’s what caused the infection in my face; it couldn’t get out as my lymph nodes were all clogged,” she said.
Glanville, 53, had the implants for 20 years and while everything looked fine on the outside, a sonogram gave her the answers for her facial parasite.
“I was shocked, because they’re implants that I’ve had for almost 20 years, they looked fine, they felt fine, the mammogram said they were fine, it wasn’t until I had a sonogram,” she said.
While generally breast implants are supposed to be changed every 10 years, Glanville thought hers were just fine, for which she had to pay a hefty price.
“You really should change your breast implants every ten years, and I just didn’t do it,” Glanville said and added that her implants were removed “just recently.”
“I thought, if it’s not broke don’t fix it, but I learnt a really, really hard lesson,” she said.
Glanville doesn’t have any plans of going under the knife again. “We’re taking care of the face now that we finally figured out what was wrong,” she said, adding that she will now treat her face with “lasers and different things.”
“It just sucks to age 20 years overnight,” she said.
She underwent a life-saving surgery on February 3 to remove the implants before they caused more damage.
Glanville’s struggle with the facial parasite, which originally presented as a swollen face, began in July 2023 while filming the Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco.
In December last year, after getting her answers about the diagnosis, the reality star opened up about her tedious health journey but kept her diagnosis a secret.
“It’s been hell. I’ve turned into an introvert. Leaving my house, I get the worst anxiety because I’ve been in my house for two years,” she told Us Weekly. “It’s been a slow process, but I’m finally getting back to my normal routine and feeling like myself again.”
Glanville’s diagnosis came after seeing “21 doctors” and seeking various treatments. She has also consulted famed “Botched” plastic surgeon Dr. Terry Dubrow, in search of an official diagnosis.
The “Real Housewives” alum had previously blamed Bravo for her facial disfigurement by saying she was stressed from their legal drama.
She had also opened up on the financial crunch she was going through after spending at least $130,000 on medical bills because of her long and exhausting health journey.
“I’m paying the minimum on my credit cards. I’ve exhausted my savings,” she told Us Weekly in August last year.
“At my age, I feel like such a loser in a way, because I was taking care of everything,” she said. “I was together. I had great credit. Now I’m scared about every little thing.”