Danniella Westbrook has been on a journey to rebuild her face and confidence after her tumultuous history with substance abuse.
The actress, 52, became hooked on drugs at 14 after shooting to fame as Sam Mitchell in the BBC One soap EastEnders.
At the height of her addiction, it was reported she would take up to five grams of cocaine a day, blowing close to £250,000 on the drug.
Years of substance abuse caused severe facial damage, including the collapse of her nose after her septum deteriorated.
On Tuesday, Danniella, who is now sober, revealed she had gone under the knife once again as part of her ongoing bid to rebuild her face.
From reconstructive operations to cosmetic tweaks, the TV star has never shied away from sharing the full extent of her surgeries with fans.
Danniella Westbrook has been on a journey to rebuild her face and confidence after her tumultuous history with substance abuse (left, in 1985; right, this week)
On Tuesday, Danniella, who is now sober, revealed she had gone under the knife once again as part of her ongoing bid to rebuild her face
From reconstructive operations to cosmetic tweaks, the TV star has shared the full extent of her surgeries with fans (pictured in an Instagram post last year)
The actress, 52, became hooked on drugs at 14 after shooting to fame as Sam Mitchell in the BBC One soap EastEnders (pictured 2023)
Earlier this week, Daniella underwent the knife for a full face, neck and brow lift in addition to a lip and nose reconstruction.
New pictures showed her wearing a hospital gown in her room before going for the surgeries.
A full recovery from a face, neck and chin lift can take up to nine months.
The surgery was performed by Danniella’s trusted Surgeon Dr Parviz Sadigh, who has carried out operations on her in the past.
In an Instagram post shared last month, Danniella said: ‘A massive amount of love and respect to my Amazing surgeon @parvizsadigh for all his hard work.
‘Everyday I grow and glow xxxx thank you and roll on Feb for the next operation.’
Her latest operation is just one of many interventions she has had over the years.
The soap star previously revealed she nearly died following a botched surgical procedure in 2015.
She suffered from severe facial bone degradation, which she attributes to osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a disease that causes bones to become weak and brittle.
From reconstructive operations to cosmetic tweaks, the TV star has never shied away from sharing the full extent of her surgeries with fans (pictured last year)
Danniella was left with screws for teeth as her cheekbones ‘wasted away,’ and revealed she now wears a whole denture that sits on the roof of her mouth.
In 2018, she told The Mirror: ‘They need to take a piece of bone out of my skull and put a plate into my face but they’ve got nothing to stick the plate on at the minute because the bone’s not strong enough.’
While she was appearing on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, she was rushed out of the house for emergency surgery on her teeth.
‘The bone hadn’t closed around the screws so they took me out of the house three times to a dentist, which they’re not meant to, because the pain was so bad,’ she said.
She ended up staying in hospital for seven weeks, during which she developed septicaemia.
‘I did nearly die, I had two lots of IV drips in each side and then they took all my teeth out again and gave me this denture which has broken my heart because I didn’t need all of my teeth out in the first place,’ she explained.
In 2022, the star revealed her desire to have her rib placed into her cheek to help reconstruct her face.
‘I hate the way I look. I’m constantly made fun of, and trolled for it,’ she told The Sun.
‘People message me, saying: “You’re so ugly, you’re a junkie, you should just go and kill yourself.”
Danniella first appeared in EastEnders in 1990 at the age of 16 but her septum collapsed from excessive drug use in 2002 (pictured left 2009, right in 2018)
Danniella continued: ‘I’ve got to a point where looking like this upsets me, so I’m going to make a change — not because of what others think but so I can be happy with the way I am.’
She also noted at the time that it would help her breathing and sinus issues.
In 2023, Danniella had a thread lift, liposuction into her cheeks and lips, and fat grafting on her chin and jawline in Turkey.
In gruesome surgery photos, the actress is bloodied and bruised in her hospital bed and said when she first woke up, she looked ‘like she had done 10 rounds with Tyson Fury’.
Danniella said she has wanted to have the reconstruction done for the last seven years, but was unable to find a surgeon who would operate because her septum had completely collapsed.
She told The Sun: ‘I was very fearful. My mum and my son Kai were on the phone constantly – I wrote up a will before I left and my son is the executor of that.
‘But luckily I’m still here and I’ve come through the other side. Someone is looking over me. I looked like I’d gone 10 rounds with Tyson Fury.
‘But the swelling has actually gone down really quickly. I’m already happy with the results.’
In 2023, Danniella had a thread lift, liposuction into her cheeks and lips and fat grafting on her chin and jawline in Turkey
Danniella said she paid for the surgery all herself despite being offered freebies from clinics all over the world, after a health scare the year before left her in intensive care because she struggled to breathe through her nose.
She previously revealed she needed five operations to correct her ‘collapsing’ face due to a previous cocaine addiction and osteoporosis, and was planning to have it done on the NHS.
She previously told The Sun in 2023: ‘I’ve spent the last seven years trying to get somebody to do it, but they said no in case it failed and they got struck off.
‘Plastic surgeons wanted £500,000 to change my face, so I thought I was never going to get it done. It was only because I went into intensive care before Christmas.
‘I couldn’t breathe because I had a cold. There was a build up of fluid and after I fell asleep I couldn’t wake up properly and ended up in ICU.
‘I was sent over to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool and it’s only because I was put in front of the right doctors, or else I’d still be waiting now to find someone. They’re doing it for me under the NHS now.’
However, just months after the surgery, the actress shared her regret over her fifth facial reconstruction in Turkey, which left her in agony.
Danniella, who cannot take pain relief medication due to her past cocaine addiction, because it contains codeine, said she woke up in agony and was left fearing for her life.
She told OK!: ‘I had a surgical thread lift where they put over 1,200 threads into my face. They were also supposed to reconstruct my nose, which is what I went there for, but they haven’t done that.
Danniella is certainly no stranger to a boob job, having admitted to undergoing at least seven in the past (pictured in 2003)
The star said she was going back to her surgeon in Liverpool to get her nose fixed – saying they will rebuild all the bridge in her mouth and build up the front of her nose.
She said: ‘They’ve taken the fat out of my back, my sides and my stomach, and put it into my face to make it more symmetrical. But I feel like they’ve taken too much fat from my stomach. I’ve always had a six-pack, and I’ve woken up, and I’ve lost it.
‘I also have big lumps of fluid all over my belly. They’re like big tennis balls. It’s ruined my body. It’s going to take a lot of work to get it back to how I was. I’m 50 this year, and I wanted to be in the best shape ever.’
In June 2025, the actress revealed she’s finally getting her face rebuilt as she headed into ‘very long’ surgery after it was reported that she hated the result of her previous facial reconstructive surgery.
Taking to Instagram, she shared an image of herself clad in a hospital gown, noting that it was a ‘big day’ for her as she prepared to go under the knife once again.
She penned: ‘Big day for me heading down for a very long surgery right now to rebuild my face. Then I can get back to work and we can get on with our life together @chasarealtal. I love you x.’
Danniella is also no stranger to a boob job, having admitted to undergoing at least seven in the past.
Appearing on Channel 5’s Celebrity Botched Up Bodies, she told how she went from a 34B to a 34D, and up again to a 34DD.
The actress said she ignored her surgeon’s warnings when she asked him to boost her bust, as she wanted ‘huge footballs’.
The actress said she ignored her surgeon’s warnings when she asked him to boost her bust, as she wanted ‘huge footballs’ (pictured 2022)
‘He said this isn’t going to look right, you’re too small, your body frame’s not right… but I didn’t care, I literally begged him to do it,’ she explained.
‘I went huge like footballs, I thought they were great.’
In 2018, Danniella disclosed that she’s had surgery she never needed, including liposuction on her knees.
‘I’ve had cosmetic surgery I haven’t needed, including seven boob jobs, an eye lift, a face lift, Botox and liposuction on my knees,’ she told The Sun.
‘I’d like to say that I wouldn’t have plastic surgery again in the future, but I probably would,’ she added.
Danniella’s latest surgery comes after she was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties in December.
She was due on set for her new movie role Tales From The Trap but was then recast in the film amid health issues – which came after years of complications due to her collapsed septum.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail at the time, insiders revealed the star, who has not starred in a film or TV show since mid-2016, was forced to seek medical attention due to her respiratory struggles.
Danniella’s latest surgery comes after she was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties in December (pictured 2024)
Danniella last appeared on TV on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, where she reached the final, finishing in first place
Tales From The Trap, where she was set to star opposite Love Island star Liv Hawkins, marked Danniella’s return to the screen, having scooped the role of a gun-selling, gangster granny – yet she has been recast by Slow Horses star Kim Tiddy.
A source close to Danniella said in December: ‘Danniella was rushed into hospital on Friday with breathing difficulties which meant she had to pull out of filming Tales From The Trap…
‘She was due to make her movie comeback as a gangster granny selling AK47s to the gangsters. It’s really disappointing as I am sure everyone was looking forward to seeing her play that part.’
Danniella last appeared on TV on Celebrity Big Brother in 2016, where she reached the final, finishing in first place.
She also competed on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2003, before going on to star on Dancing On Ice in 2010, and appearing on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks three years later.
