Louis Theroux has not only made a documentary about plastic surgery but he has gone under the knife himself as well. The journalist spent £2,500 on liposuction after a surgeon suggested that he would be a good candidate for the procedure. Louis Theroux filmed himself while he underwent the plastic surgery procedure. He has not had anything besides that.
Louis Theroux worked as a journalist for Metro Silicon Valley and Spy and served as the presenter of offbeat segments on Michael Moore‘s TV Nation series before he went on to become the bold, fearless, and sharp documentarian we know now. He has made documentaries about diverse topics ranging from unusual and taboo subcultures to crime and the justice system to celebrities and pop culture and he has really delved into the depths of it.
He has done his studies, research, and documentaries well. He has been honored with three British Academy Television Awards and a Royal Television Society Television Award for his work. He is known for his numerous documentaries, some of which are Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends, When Louis Met…, and 50 BBC Two specials but his most popular one (which probably has the most rewatch value in pop culture in this era) is Under The Knife, which is about plastic surgery.
His documentary gives a fresher and more empathetic perspective on those who choose to have cosmetic procedures. He might have delved a little too much into it because, in the process of making it, he himself went under the knife to get rid of his love handles. Let’s learn more about Louis Theroux’s plastic surgery!
Previously, we touched on the plastic surgery stories of Tony Romo and Miss USA.
Louis Theroux’s Plastic Surgery: He Got Lipo While Making ‘Under The Knife’!
Louis Theroux (@officiallouistheroux) has not just made the documentary Under The Knife which is about plastic surgery but he himself has gone under the knife as well. He got liposuction while filming for it. We can see it in the doc. He has recorded himself having the procedure and kept it in the documentary.
Louis Theroux had plastic surgery while making the documentary Under The Knife.
Image Source: The Times
In 2007, when Theroux was making a television documentary about plastic surgery, he got so lost in the world of cosmetic procedures that he himself decided to be the subject of the doc he was making when he decided to undergo liposuction. He spent £2,500 out of his own pocket to go under the knife. He had the procedure in California where he was making the doc, and supposedly so he could feel the same way as the people who get the procedure and understand them.
Louis Theroux might not have gotten plastic surgery at all if it weren’t for the surgeons coaxing him into it. I mean, he did think about getting minor procedures like Botox but when surgeons started suggesting he get some invasive procedures such as a nose job, he was not very sure about it.
I started this film with an open mind about experiencing the world of plastic surgery at first hand. To begin with, I’d thought I might get something minor like botox injections in my forehead but some of the surgeons I met suggested I needed a nose job, and others said I’d benefit from a brow lift. I wasn’t keen as I’ve got rather used to the way my face looks.
Louis Theroux on Getting Plastic Surgery!
Louis Theroux did not want to change his face in any way at all but he was advised to get rid of his love handles, he didn’t see much problem with having the plastic surgery procedure because he would only be looking fitter after the procedure. He was convinced about the liposuction procedure when the surgeon basically told him that there was not much risk in getting lipo. And he went ahead and got himself operated on and recorded himself and kept it in the documentary.
A leading surgeon then told me I’d be a good candidate for lipo on my stomach and love handles. I was told the worst that can happen is you get some lumps under your skin. I thought it a risk worth taking as I wanted to see if I’d feel like a new and improved man.
Louis Theroux underwent liposuction after he was advised to get rid of love handles.
Image Source: BBC
He dropped a trouser size after 1 pound of fat was taken out of his waist. He was under the anesthesia but he kept talking the whole time, he even interviewed the surgeons as they were operating on him. When he was later asked at what point he decided to go under the knife, Louis Theroux said that he always likes to try to get involved (in whatever he is making the documentary about) but never imagined that he would actually get plastic surgery because he didn’t think he needed anything. He was surprised when a surgeon told him that he would be a good candidate but he hadn’t exercised in a couple of weeks and he didn’t feel very well about it because he had put on like five pounds.
Louis Theroux, in hindsight, did realize that the surgeon was probably drumming up his business a bit and there would be nobody who couldn’t do better with lipo that he would find. He was a bit preoccupied with the decision that stood before him at the time and the surgeon was pretty convincing when he suggested the procedure. So, while he had mixed feelings about getting plastic surgery, he went ahead with it anyway.
