Raven-Symoné opened up about undergoing multiple plastic surgery procedures during her days as a child star.
“I had two breast reductions and lipo before I turned 18,” Raven, 37, revealed on the Monday, August 7, episode of her and wife Miranda Maday’s “The Best Podcast Ever” podcast. “I’ve never said it [before]. I never shared it.”
She went on to note that “there was paperwork involved,” as she was still a minor at the time of her procedures. “My dad suggested strongly that I should get my breasts reduced. And he was like, ‘So you don’t feel bad, is there anything that you want?’” Raven shared. “I was like, ‘Yeah, if I get lipo, will people stop calling me fat?’ And so, I got a twofer.”
The first surgery, however, came with some complications. Raven had a seizure upon waking up from anesthesia, recalling, “I remember waking up and seeing everything … and then I just started to have this dry mouth and couldn’t breathe. And then, I went back under and they were like, ‘Oh, yeah, you had a seizure.’”
Raven stated that the whole thing “was just a mess,” but having to experience a painful recovery at such a young age was especially challenging. “I have scars. I still have scar tissue to this day,” she said. “And I gained weight after and had to, like, go back for a quick little, like, [get] a little bit more out ‘cause [my breasts] were still too big for others’ feelings.”
Raven did not specify how old she was when her surgeries occurred. She was around the age of 18 when her hit Disney Channel series, That’s So Raven, and the first The Cheetah Girls movie both premiered in 2003. Raven reprised her role as Galleria in the 2005 sequel, The Cheetah Girls 2, before That’s So Raven concluded in 2007 after five seasons.
Over the years, Raven has been open about her experiences with both weight loss and gain. In May 2021, she revealed via Instagram that she had dropped nearly 30 pounds.
“You see that chin? If y’all watch Raven’s Home literally right now, and then come on this live and see this joint, I got a whole different face going on,” she said at the time. “It’s a whole pounds down journey.”
She later clarified that her goal was not to look like “a little twig,” explaining on a June 2021 episode of Good Morning America, “I’m not trying to be, like, ‘Oh, my God, look at me.’ I have a goal in mind and it’s not just weight loss, it’s really complete body health. … I don’t try to speak for anybody else.”
The following month, Raven revealed that her relationship with Maday, 35 — whom she married in June 2020 — served as motivation to help her lose weight.
“This was because we want to have a life together,” she told E! News that July. “She doesn’t want to take me to an early grave and I want to make sure I am there for her in the best health possible.”
