Surgeons claim reality TV glamorises cosmetic surgery

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Page last updated at 07:19 GMT, Friday, 30 November 2012

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By Maddii Lown
Newsbeat reporter

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Lauren Pope defends plastic surgery talk on Towie

Top surgeons say they think some reality TV programmes glamorise cosmetic surgery.

Rajiv Grover, president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), said: "People are forgetting it's a medical operation.

"The way that The Only Way is Essex perhaps portrays it is as if it's a beauty treatment that's common."

Programme producers say that is not true and they "don't try to glamorise surgery".

A statement said: "The Only Way is Essex (Towie) follows the lives of real people and remains impartial on observing their lifestyles.

"The show has indeed on occasion highlighted some danger such as documenting Lauren Pope's discovery that she had the PIP implants and required extra surgery."

'Glamorising surgery'

Dr Rajiv Grover also thinks celebrities should not endorse plastic surgery clinics.

He says reality TV and endorsements on websites can "create a veil over the risks and the complications".

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Towie's Gemma Collins talks about cosmetic surgery

Lauren Pope is one of the cast members of The Only Way Is Essex.

"I'd say 90% of stuff we do on the show we talk about in a light-hearted way," she said.

"So maybe that would give off the wrong impression, but it's either that or we don't talk about it and people have to be really secretive about it."

Lauren Pope also appears on the website of one cosmetic surgery clinic.

"These companies need to promote themselves," she said. "Why not have us do it? I'm not endorsing a company I haven't dealt with."

The clinic which Lauren Pope represents said: "Our role is not to persuade people to have surgery and they do not unwittingly stray to us without having considered surgery beforehand.

"Before they approach us, we find that most people have been thinking about having a surgical procedure for many years and even then we have cooling off periods, as we appreciate that this is a big decision.

"Surgery with MYA is by no means an impulse buy."

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