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Julie goes under the knife on TV

Deanna Delamotta
10/ 9/2004

FORMER Coronation Street star Julie Goodyear was left speechless last night after treatment on the controversial reality TV show Cosmetic Surgery Live.

The 62-year-old actress, from Heywood, was the latest celebrity to appear on the show, which is being filmed live by Channel Five from the Transform Clinic in Bowdon, near Altrincham.

She looked distressed after having injections of anti-ageing facial filler Restylane to plump out the lines near her lips, caused by years of smoking.

Before the procedure Julie, who played Bet Gilroy in the soap, confessed she was terrified of needles. She held a teddy bear for comfort in the treatment room.

But although she was laughing and joking beforehand, the star had to put on a brave face when speaking later to the show's co-presenter Vanessa Feltz.

Her lips were swollen and she was clearly in pain.

Julie used hand gestures to indicate she didn't know whether she would have cosmetic surgery again, despite being told she looked great and that the swelling would go down within hours.

She was then whisked off set to a hotel without being interviewed, as had been agreed with producers Endemol, makers of Big Brother.

Is plastic surgery taking reality TV too far?

Meanwhile, the show came under fire today for focusing on the "seedy" side of cosmetic surgery.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons said programmes such as Cosmetic Surgery Live sent out a dangerous message to viewers.

The latest criticism comes a fortnight after BAAPS first accused the show of preying on the vulnerabilities of a society increasingly obsessed with physical perfection.

It said it encouraged people to seek surgery for the wrong reasons.

At the BAAPS annual conference in Chester, Douglas McGeorge, consultant plastic surgeon and BAAPS council member, said the programmes were embarrassing.

He said: "Shows such as Plastic Surgery Live are primarily for the benefit of television and not for the benefit of the patients.

"They take a grubby look at the seedy side of aesthetic surgery because this looks good on television.

"It sells television space and advertising space, but whether it actually makes good television is debatable."

Norman Waterhouse, president of the BAAPS, said programmes such as FX Network drama Nip/Tuck and ABC's Extreme Makeover trivialised aesthetic surgery.

The BAAPS also warns that people who base their expectations on another person's surgical results could be disappointed. The programme attracted 1.1 million viewers on Monday night - a record for the station.

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