Orange County Register

Photo: Cheryl Tiegs, age 60, last February.
Survey: Has Cheryl Tiegs had plastic surgery?

SUPERMODEL AT 60

The face of former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, age 60, is changing as she ages, but she says she hasn’t had plastic surgery.

Local cosmetic physicians are divided about whether Tiegs is telling all.

In a radio interview in Minnesota, where Tiegs was born, she flatly denied that she had altered her face surgically. The denial came in response to a question from radio show host Lori Barghini in March, when Barghini referred to speculation about cosmetic procedures:

“I point-blank asked her on the air and she said no,” Barghini said. “She is afraid of needles and she’s not injecting anything.”

Dr. Christopher Zachary, chairman of the Department of Dermatology at UC-Irvine, believes Tiegs.

Before-and-after photos that seem to show dramatic changes aren’t comparable because of differences in expression and lighting, he says:

These differences, although not obvious to the uncritical eye, are of immense importance, and have been used by some to demonstrate the illusion of improvement. In this case, you should absolutely believe her, and she looks great without any help from the likes of me.

Plastic surgeon Dr. John Di Saia of San Clemente, however, believes Tiegs has had multiple surgeries, including one or more face lifts, nose jobs (rhinoplasties), and perhaps breast implants:

Since the seventies … I’d wager she’s had a few rhinoplasties. She has probably also had a face lift or two as her cheeks don’t seem to descend the way they should have over time.

I found a few pics online indicating that she may have had breast implants in the late seventies or early-to-mid-eighties. At that time implants were smaller and easier to hide when a lady wanted to do so. She may have had them removed in more recent times as many women of the time did.

I would advise her to take it easy on any large scale further work. Redos can be more difficult. Skin care and sun avoidance do well for all.

Tiegs says she once tried Botox, but stopped after one set of injections. She told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in February:

I tried it once, but it made me frown. People said, “What’s the matter, Cheryl, why are you frowning?” I have a skin-care line, Ageless Woman, and I use that.

The following photos show the changes that have arousing speculation that Tiegs has in fact had plastic surgery.

Photos from ABC News.com: Left, undated older photo of Cheryl Tiegs. Right, photo of Tiegs in February 2007, at age 59.

Photos from the Awful Plastic Surgery blog. On the basis of these photos, the blog speculates that “her lips and cheeks have been tampered with. Her cheeks were never so prominent before.”

When Tiegs was in her early 50s, she told Oprah magazine why she wouldn’t have plastic surgery:

Cheryl is willing to talk about plastic surgery with her girlfriends, but she says it will never go beyond talk. “To have this spirit which is within, to nurture it, to pay attention to it rather than ignoring it and buying a bunch of new clothes and getting face lifts… That’s all exterior stuff which is fun to do, but it’s not going to make you beautiful without working on what’s going on inside.”

Photos: Left, Cheryl Tiegs at age 56 in 2004. Right, at age 30 in 1978.

Related links:

• Botox-bashing celebrities vs. hypocrisy watchdogs
• Men say women look best with no breast implants, no Botox
• ‘Indiana Jones’ star Blanchett shuns plastic surgery
• Sally Field is thinking of getting plastic surgery; what’s your advice?
• Comedian Kathy Griffin tells of plastic surgery’s pains and appeal
• Debra Winger: Give money to charity, not to plastic surgeons
• Heidi Klum photos through the years, age 25 to age 35
• Botox scared Kyra Sedgwick, but she’s open to any fixes a body needs

For more on celebrities and cosmetic medicine, see the list of links on the right side of this blog.

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