Stars Who Have Had Breast Implants Removed

Major plastic surgery and minor cosmetic procedures are relatively common in the entertainment industry, where stars are under extreme pressure to stay as beautiful and as youthful — and arguably as popular and as profitable — for as long as possible. As the late Joan Rivers once said, according to The Hollywood Reporter, "I've had so much plastic surgery, when I die they will donate my body to Tupperware." Along with nose jobs, Botox, fillers, liposuction, facelifts, and, er, knee lifts, getting breast implants is something that plenty of stars have done (with some pretty memorable blunders, too). However, some famous figures (who have famous figures) later get their breast implants removed, which is also "becoming more popular," Dr. Marco Faria Correa, a plastic and cosmetic surgeon, told Vice.

There are plenty of reasons why someone would get rid of their implants. While some may simply no longer like the way they look or feel, others might be dealing with health issues. Harvard Medical School's Health Publishing notes that "there are some documented risks associated with breast implants ... includ[ing] potential surgical complications (like infection) and implant rupture." Even the FDA lists the "risks and complications of breast implants."

Indeed, some of those reasons are why these celebrities — including actresses, singers, and reality TV stars — have had their breast implants removed.

Pamela Anderson first became famous in part because of her body, including her large breasts, which were a result of implants. "After being discovered on a Jumbotron at a British Columbia's Lions football game, Pamela went from starring in a commercial campaign to the pages of Playboy to TV and film as an actress, producer, and director to a media mogul to entrepreneur superstar," according to her Playboy bio. She eventually went on to appear on their "cover 14 times — more than any other woman in Playboy history." Anderson earned further fame for her controversial antics, and also for her role as C.J. Parker, one of the bathing suit-wearing lifeguards on Baywatch — which was even an ongoing reference on Friends.

However, the actress eventually decided to get her implants removed. "There were no medical problems. There was no reason why I took them out. There was nothing like that," she told Entertainment Tonight in 1999 (via the New York Post). "I've been thinking about it for a long time. I feel like I'm a petite person and just having these large breasts was, it just didn't feel right anymore. I just didn't feel like it looked very good. I was really kind of being self-conscious of it." But when she got them taken out, she revealed that doctors "found a leak in one side." Yikes!

When it comes to Victoria Beckham's breasts, "she's visibly gone up (and down) in cup sizes over the years, and ended up really regretting it," according to People. While that's certainly no one's business but her own, the former Spice Girl sat down with Allure in 2014 and while "gazing at an old photo featuring a fair amount of cleavage, she [felt] the need to describe the fate of those breasts: 'I don't have them anymore.' A small pause: 'I think I may have purchased them.' And then what? She is asked. Did your breasts just leave? 'Or they got removed, one or the other,' she says. You removed the implants? 'Yeah,' she replies with satisfaction."

During that same conversation, Beckham was asked if she had the implants taken out "because they hurt," and while she denied that, she also didn't offer a reason for getting them removed.

The former singer and current fashion designer was willing to open up a little more while penning a message to her younger self in 2017 for Vogue UK. "Don't mess with your boobs. All those years I denied it — stupid. A sign of insecurity," she admitted. She then told her past self and perhaps others who are experiencing what she was — i.e. those who are insecure or thinking about getting breast implants — "Just celebrate what you've got."

Actress, celebrity cook, and wife of NBA player Stephen Curry, Ayesha Curry "once playfully confessed to getting her 'boobs done' after many months of breastfeeding, but she's come to see her cosmetic surgery in a different light," according to Working Mother. Curry told the outlet in May 2019, "I didn't realize at the time, but after having Ryan [her second daughter], I was battling a bit of postpartum that lingered for a while. It came in the form of me being depressed about my body ... So I made a rash decision."

While explaining that her "intention was just to have them lifted," the host of Ayesha's Home Kitchen claims that she "came out with these bigger boobs" that she "didn't want." In fact, she says she "got the most botched boob job on the face of the planet" and that "[t]hey're worse now than they were before." The star also noted that she "would never do anything like that again," however, is "an advocate of if something makes you happy, who cares about the judgment?"

Obviously still feeling that vibe in May 2020, Curry took to Instagram to post a photo of herself in a two-piece bathing suit. "WOW," comedian Ali Wong wrote in the comments along with five fire emojis. Former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland seemed to agree, writing, "GET IT MAMA!!!"

These days, Yolanda Hadid may be known as a reality TV star and the mother of models Gigi and Bella Hadid, but she was once a model herself and apparently felt like she needed plastic surgery over the years to fine-tune her appearance, including getting breast implants — which she's since removed.

"Finally back to the original 1964. Living in a body free of breast implants, fillers, botox, [extensions], and all the bullsh*t 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 in a lengthy Instagram post in January 2019. "Your health is your wealth so please make educated decisions, research the partial information you're given by our broken system before putting anything foreign in your body."

The star also opened up about issues she'd had with her implants on Bravo's website, writing, "I ruptured an implant 10 years ago in a water-skiing fall, the leakage from that incident had travelled, over the years, through my body and taken a life of its own." Apparently, "2.8-3 cm silicone granulomas were found in [her] lymph nodes, under [her] clavicle bone, and deep inside [her] chest cavity, creating a constant immune response and," she admitted, "a constant feeling of something that was trying to kill me from the inside out."

Sharon Osbourne returned to her hosting gig on controversial ABC show The Talk in October 2011 and revealed that she had taken some time off of her on-screen work because she'd had her breast implants removed. "One morning I woke up and one of my boobies was kind of much longer than the other ... So I'm thinking, this isn't right," she said on The Talk (via People). Apparently, the star's surgeon discovered that one of her breast implants had "leaked into the wall of [her] stomach." 

Afterward, the wife of rocker Ozzy Osbourne and the mother of Kelly and Jack Osbourne seemed to be pleased with the result, saying, "I don't feel like I have a water bed laying on my chest anymore."

A year later, in November 2012, Osbourne opened up again on The Talk (via People) about the fact that beyond the removal of her breast implants, she'd since undergone a double mastectomy as well as reconstructive surgery. While the star "wasn't diagnosed with cancer," she explained that she did have "the breast cancer gene ... and one of [her] breasts was in a really bad state because of the implant." Her advice for anyone musing about getting breast augmentation? "Never have [implants] by the way."

At the peak of her fame in 2010, Heidi Montag famously had ten cosmetic surgeries done in one day, including a chin reduction, a brow lift, and Botox injections as well as getting size F breast implants, which she told Us Weekly weighed "about three pounds each." However, by 2013, she decided she didn't want them anymore. "They were so heavy they were falling through the skin," she told People in 2016. "It was just too heavy for my body and I was in pain and uncomfortable all the time. I thought, 'What do I need [these] big of breasts for?'"

The former reality TV star also talked about the impact the procedures had, saying, "I was in way over my head ... I had no idea what I was getting into or that it was a lifelong commitment. It was very challenging, both physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, on my husband [Spencer Pratt], and on our lives." Montag continued by admitting that the "fallout" from what both she and her husband were doing — including "spend[ing] more money" on things like the surgeries — "was a huge turning point ... in such a negative way."

"Sometimes I can't believe I did that to us and to me. It's been a lot to overcome," she added. However, she says, "I don't want to say I regret it 100 percent because I've tried to grow from it."

Stevie Nicks has definitely faced scary health-related situations in the past due to her choices. For instance, she told Billboard that in the '80s, she was told that if she did any more cocaine, she'd "have a brain hemorrhage." Nicks also dealt with physical issues that she believes were related to her breast implants.

In 1994, the Grammy-winning Fleetwood Mac singer was experiencing "growing lethargy," as People puts it, and although her condition was diagnosed as the effects of Epstein-Barr virus, the star (as well as her mother) thought that the issue might have to do with her silicone breast implants, which she'd gotten back in 1976. "Like cocaine, the whole world was getting them back then, and everyone was told they were safe," Nicks explained. "But I'm living proof that they aren't safe."

Frankly, Nicks had been told by a number of doctors that not only would it be painful to remove her implants, but it was unnecessary. However, when she insisted and had them taken out in the mid-'90s, "it turned out they were totally broken." With the implants out, People notes that Nicks' health was "restored," which is why she's still thrilling fans with her musically witchy ways today.

Melissa Gilbert may be best known for her role on Little House on the Prairie, however, even starring on such a wholesome show didn't prevent her from experiencing pressure related to her body. In a December 2014 blog post aptly titled "A Tale of Two Titties," the actress opened up about getting implants, saying that "at the tender age of 17," she got "the message" that it was better for her to have big breasts even though she says that she "really was happy" with her breasts, noting that they were "small (A cups) but low maintenance."

But after having her son, Gilbert's chest got bigger while breastfeeding and then "disappeared" afterward. It surely didn't help that her "husband at the time," called her breasts "socks full of marbles with knots at the top.'" After they split, she had her breasts done — "Not too big, just enough to fill up the 'socks.'"

However, at the time of the post, the star filled her fans and readers in on the fact that she was having her breast implants removed the following week. "The bottom line ... or top line ... is that; A. I am concerned for my health and 2. I don't like the way they look or feel. Frankly, I'd like to be able to take a Zumba class without the fear that I'll end up with two black eyes."

Jenna Jameson is a writer, television personality, and entrepreneur who found fame as an adult film star, which means that there was plenty of attention focused on her body during her onscreen career. However, by 2007, she'd retired from that part of her job and had her breast implants removed.

The star opened up to Us Weekly about why she had undergone the "three-hour surgery that took the 5-foot-6 star from a D-cup to a C-up," saying, "When I had implants, I felt uncomfortable. I would be shy at the beach. I know it sounds funny, but I'd wear high-necked clothes — unless I was at an adult-film convention. So I thought, Why don't I be who I am and get my real ones back?"

Afterward, she says she was "ecstatic" — "The first thing I did when I got home was open my bra. I wasn't supposed to but I did. I was so happy, I cried. It was like looking into the mirror when I was 17." She explained that "even for women with naturally large boobs, getting a reduction is so freeing."

Jameson also addressed how removing her breast implants affects — or rather, doesn't affect — her in another way, according to Business Wire, saying, "A woman's sexuality is not defined by the size of her bust. I absolutely love the way I look and feel now. I am experiencing pure bliss for the first time in my life."

Fans of Glee will surely remember Heather Morris as Brittany Pierce, a cheerleader — or, rather, a "Cheerio" — at William McKinley High School. Morris is also someone who formerly worked as a backup dancer for Beyoncé, which proves that she knows how to move her body in intriguing ways. And being able to continue to do so is, in part, why she told a staffer at Fitness (via Cosmopolitan) in 2011 that she had formerly had breast implants, but had chosen to have them removed.

"Implants were something I thought I wanted when I was younger, and now I don't," she said. "It was hard being active with them, because my chest was always sore. It hurt a lot, and I didn't like always being in pain, so they had to go!"

Now that she can exercise without her breast implants causing her pain, she revealed that she was eager to give "The Tracy Anderson Method [a routine that incorporates aerobics and dance moves]" a try. "Gwyneth Paltrow [who appeared on an episode of Glee in 2010] promised she'd take me, but she's so busy that we've yet to go," Morris admitted. "Gwyneth has a killer body, so I'm willing to try whatever she does to look like that!"

Chrissy Teigen's fans were surely wondering why the model posted a topless photo of herself to Instagram in May 2020, but things became apparent when they read the caption, in which she announced, "I'm getting my boobs out!" She continued, "I'll still have boobs, they'll just be pure fat. Which is all a tit is in the first place. A dumb, miraculous bag of fat."

Teigen also opened up to Glamour, explaining that she had a breast augmentation when she was around 20, saying, "It was more for a swimsuit thing. I thought, if I'm going to be posing, laid on my back, I want them to be perky! But then you have babies and they fill up with milk and deflate and now I am screwed." To address the issue, she "filled them out." However, since "you're supposed to replace [implants] every ten years," she says that "when you have kids you think about [the risks] of surgery and I think, 'This is not the way I want to die, in boob surgery.'"

On June 11, the star used Instagram again to tell her followers that "Surgery went perfectly!" And although she was "so sore," she shared a photo of what "made it go away for half a minute at least." It was a note from her daughter, Luna, that read: "Have fun pulling your boobies out."