Former glamour model Danielle Lloyd, 37, shared a selfie on Instagram earlier this month that sparked questions over whether she’d modified her face – with one follower asking, “What’s happened to the side of your eyes?” and another posting, “Please be careful with your treatments – your face has changed.”
And despite previously telling Closer she’d “never touch her face again”, the mum-of-four now reveals she had a “fox-eye” thread lift – as well as a second thread lift around her chin to tighten up her jawline – in December, after worrying about approaching 40, as well as spending hours researching different procedures during the second lockdown.
The treatment – rumoured to be popular with the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid – is said to lift and elongate the upper eyelid, pulling the eye into a more almond shape, to prevent sagging brows and give the face a more youthful, tighter look. Dissolvable threads – which last a year to 18 months – are inserted under the skin and pulled to lift and stretch the corner of the eye back towards the temples. The same threads are used in the jawline thread lift, which tightens the chin area and prevents jowls and sagging skin.
Speaking exclusively to Closer, Danielle says, “I’d heard that the Kardashians had had it done in America, and I’d love to look like them, so I did some research during the second lockdown. I’d just been flicking through Instagram and saw all the different procedures on offer. I know I said I didn’t want more, but it wasn’t under anaesthetic or under the knife or anything. I love it and I’ve felt much better since having it done.
“Seeing all these gorgeous, young girls on Instagram also made me feel insecure and worry about my age – I turn 38 later this year, and the prospect of being 40 worries me. I want to look my best, and this procedure prevents things like jowls and lines, so I thought, ‘Prevention is better than cure!’ I know I’m a little bit obsessed, but it makes me feel better.”
Danielle – who rose to fame after being crowned Miss Great Britain in 2006 before making a name for herself as a glamour model – has undergone a whopping 15 cosmetic and surgical procedures over the years. She’s been under the knife and had “around 10” boob jobs – one of which, in 2012, left her fighting for her life after her breast implant exploded on the operating table, resulting in her losing six pints of blood.
After that she swore off surgery for good – but in 2019 she went back on her word and jetted to Turkey for another boob job, a Brazilian butt lift – dubbed the world’s most dangerous cosmetic procedure after a number of deaths from the op – and liposuction. She returned last year for boob correction surgery after her scars had left her feeling self-conscious, and decided on a whim to have a nose job, too.
Despite her husband Michael O’Neill pleading with her not to change her appearance any more, Danielle opted to have the procedure without running through the details with her husband, and says that both he and her eldest son Archie, 11, were livid.
She says, “Michael just thought I was going out to get a beauty treatment, like getting my eyelashes done or something. He was furious – he lost it and just kept telling me, ‘You’re going to f*** your face up.’ He tells me I’m beautiful and to stop – and I do believe him, but I feel like it makes me feel better and more confident.
“Archie also shouted at me – he got upset and said, ‘Mum, what have you done to your face?’ Straight after the procedure, I was bruised and swollen for around 24 hours, so I did look scary.
“I sat him down and explained that I’d got it done to make me feel happier, and he understood. It went down the next day and it was OK, but it upset him.”
Danielle – who’s also mum to sons Harry, 10 and George, eight, from her marriage to footballer Jamie O’Hara and Ronnie, four, with Michael – previously opened up to Closer about how lockdown had left her feeling low and that having suffered from depression on and off over the years, her mental health issues had returned.
Danielle now says that the gradual lifting of lockdown restrictions and her upcoming holidays booked for later this year have left her wanting to look her best again.
Check out: Big Brother series seven - where are they now?
Big Brother series seven: where are they now? slider
1 of 20Pete Bennett
Pete was the first housemate to enter the Big Brother house, and made quite an entrance by falling down he stairs. He was also the last to leave after winning the show with a landslide 61% of the vote.
2 of 20Pete Bennett now
Pete's now an actor, starring in a show called Green Fingers on Amazon Prime. In late 2020, he's appearing in a Catherine Tate film, This Nan's Life.
3 of 20Glyn Wise
Remember Glyn? Only vaguely? Us too, yet he came second on the show after a whopping 93 days in the house. Blimey.
4 of 20Glyn Wise now
Glyn stood as Plaid Cymru's candidate in Cardiff Central in 2016 but resigned from the party later that year.
5 of 20Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace
Aisleyne divided opinion among the Big Brother housemates, she was voted to be sent to the House Next Door in week six, but she was popular with viewers and ended in a very respectable third place.
6 of 20Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace now
Aisleyne is the biggest monetary success story of her series and is worth an estimated cool £4.3m. She's still a darling of the tabloids and, honestly? We're still a little bit in love with her.
7 of 20Richard Newman
Another housemate who stirred up mixed feelings in the house, Richard survived eviction a whopping six times. He wound up in fourth place.
8 of 20Richard Newman not really now tbh
It's remarkably difficult to find an up-to-date snap of Richard (rude) so here's a jolly picture of him and fellow housemate Lea Walker. He went on to present a show on Gaydar radio for two years after the show.
9 of 20Nikki Grahame
One of the most iconic Big Brother contestants of all time, Nikki Grahame was booted out of the house on day 58 but was put back in on day 83. She ended up in fifth place which is weird considering her "WHO IS SHE?" rant is still common parlance.
10 of 20Nikki Grahame now
Since leaving Big Brother, Nikki has done a whole lot more Big Brother, including Ultimate Big Brother (she came second to Brian Dowling) and Big Brother Canada 4 (she lasted a whopping 59 days).Nikki tragically passed away in April 2020 following a long battle with anorexia.
11 of 20Jennie Corner
Look, we're going to level with you here. We don't remember anything about Jennie's time in the house and yet she was part of the finale and came in sixth place after 49 days in the house.
12 of 20Jennie Corner...still in 2006
Jennie's post-Big Brother life seems to have been lived out of the spotlight (as is her absolute right). She did a saucy photoshoot for now defunct lads' mag Zoo, posted some tweets in 2013 but other than that...nada.
13 of 20Imogen Thomas
Miss Wales 2003, Imogen lasted 86 days in the Big Brother house, just missing out on a place in the finale.
14 of 20Imogen Thomas
Unlike Jennie, Imogen has very much kept herself in the public eye. Her most notorious moment was when her alleged affair with Ryan Giggs was subject to a gagging order in 2011.
15 of 20Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short
Grace and Mikey got together on the show, although when Grace left on day 30, Mikey stayed on and clocked up 79 days in the house.
16 of 20Mikey Dalton and Grace Adams-Short now
There can't have been any hard feelings though: the pair married in 2009 and are...still together.
17 of 20Lea Walker
Lea once claimed to have the biggest boobs in Britain. Ah, mems. The big busted former porn star, who we were HUGE fans of, was evicted on day 51 but returned for three days at the end of the show's run.
18 of 20Lea Walker now
Lea presented a radio show with Richard for two years (see above). She now has an OnlyFans account, as is the modern way and, from Twitter, seems as feisty and opinionated as ever. Hooray!
19 of 20Sezer Yurtseven
Sezer was the second person to be evicted from the house (after Bonnie Holt) but the fifth to leave after two housemates walked in the first two weeks (Shahbaz Chauhdry and George Askew) and Dawn Blake was ejected for apparently breaking the rules.
20 of 20Sezer Yurtseven now
Sezer's had quite the glow up since leaving the house. He know describes as a homeless campaigner which just adds to the phwoar factor.
She says, “Although I don’t really mind lockdown and I’m a homebody anyway, I do want to feel as confident in myself as possible as life gets back to normal. We’ve got Ibiza and Dubai booked for later this year and I can’t wait. I’m totally happy with my body – Michael and I have been being really healthy and have been teetotal this whole year so we can look and feel our best.”
Danielle has often spoken about her desperate desire for a baby girl, having had four boys, and previously revealed she plans to have gender selection in Dubai so that she can finally have a daughter.
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And while the Coronavirus pandemic – as well as her being diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and endometriosis in 2019 – have delayed that prospect, she hasn’t given up hope – and says that she and Michael have been trying for a baby in recent months.
She says, “This lockdown has also given me more time to think, and it’s made me broodier than ever. It seems so many people are having babies at the moment! I’d still love my little girl – and because we haven’t been able to do gender selection in Dubai, we’ve been trying naturally.
“I’ve got polycystic ovaries and endometriosis, which may be affecting my chances of getting pregnant. So, if I’m not pregnant by summer, I’ll definitely have gender selection in Dubai when we go there in the summer. I haven’t given up on my dream of having a girl just yet.”
Get the best celeb interviews in Closer magazine each week.