Fox’s controversial reality series The Swan revolved around everyday women going through extensive plastic surgery — and now the contestants are revealing every side effect of their botched procedures.
“[Creator] Nealy [Galán] didn’t give us any of the tools for how to take care of ourselves after you get back home,” former contestant Beth Lay claimed in the new Hulu documentary The Swan: Behind the Mirror. “My left breasts became encapsulated and shifted all the way up here.”
Lay got help from Dr. Terry Dubrow, who “fixed it” after performing the surgeries in both seasons of the show.
“But then, it had dropped and it still wasn’t right,” she continued. “And that was it. I just had to kind of live with it.”
Cindy Ingle, meanwhile, revealed her “implant popped” after she filmed season 1, adding, “And I couldn’t do anything for years. Taking that money away from [my] family, I couldn’t do it.”
In her own confessional, Kari Bravata said her “temporary teeth” would fall out “constantly.” Kristy Garza also had issues, saying, “I had to have a bunch of teeth pulled. My gum tissue is destroyed.”
Kari’s sister, Gina Bravata, who also participated in the show, specifically called out the show’s dentist Sherri Worth, who surrendered her dental license in February 2017 following allegations of fraud, negligence and overdiagnosis.
“We’ve all had extreme leftover problems from what Dr. Worth did to our teeth,” Gina noted. “And let’s face it, she’s no longer practicing for a reason.”
The Swan: Behind the Mirror, which premiered on Tuesday, September 29, focused on several contestants as they reflected on their complicated history with the show.
“They were not looking for people that had their life together,” director Erin Lee Car told Variety in an interview earlier this month. “They were looking for people who were, in my mind, vulnerable, and when you isolate people for 90 days who have already expressed that they have mental health issues, it’s going to go sideways.”
Hulu’s tell-all doc pulled back the curtain on the extreme restrictions placed on the contestants, which included working out six days a week and a strict diet of 800 to 1,200 calories a day.
“Nobody’s life was made over. Where was the follow-up care?” Kristy asked in the doc. “After the show, I went off the rails, and I ended up getting evicted from my apartment. I got divorced. I was not a good mother at that time. I was using alcohol and occasional drugs. I was lost for most of my adult life.”
She continued: “I had an epiphany a couple months ago. Maybe I’m not mad at them. Maybe I’m mad at me because I bought the dream they sold me. Because I’m not big on blame. I think blame is a waste of your energy and your time and of your emotions. But I am mad.”
The Swan: Behind the Mirror is currently streaming on Hulu.
