I’ve always heard that Priyanka Chopra had a lot of plastic surgery in her early years, but before now, I’ve never really gone back to look at her really early photos. You guys, she was STUNNING before her surgeries. Maybe it’s because I also have an “Indian nose,” but she was so beautiful with her original nose, my God. In Priyanka’s new memoir, Unfinished, she writes about why she went in for her first nose surgery, and why she’s had multiple surgeries to correct that original botched surgery.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is getting candid about the botched surgery she underwent in the early 2000s that left her feeling “devastated and hopeless.” Not long after catapulting to global fame when she was crowned Miss World 2000, Chopra Jonas, 38, began to develop a “lingering head cold” in the summer of 2001, which at the time she believed was simply a “very bad sinus infection.”
“I was having trouble breathing. This is a problem someone with asthma can’t ignore,” the star wrote in her new memoir, Unfinished, available now. She ended up seeing a doctor recommended by a family friend, who discovered a “polyp in my nasal cavity that would need to be surgically removed.”
At the time, Chopra Jonas felt thankful that a polypectomy “sounded like a pretty routine procedure,” but unfortunately for her, it didn’t go quite as planned. “While shaving off the polyp, the doctor also accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed. When it was time to remove the bandages and the condition of my nose was revealed, Mom and I were horrified. My original nose was gone. My face looked completely different. I wasn’t me anymore,” she said.
The procedure left the star feeling “devastated and hopeless,” she wrote. “Every time I looked in the mirror, a stranger looked back at me, and I didn’t think my sense of self or my self-esteem would ever recover from the blow.” Dealing with the aftermath of the botched surgery was made even more difficult due to her newfound stardom. She remembers the media giving her a nickname — “Plastic Chopra” — after her surgery. “Let’s just call it out right now. Immediately the name started to show up in articles and newspaper items and it has followed me my entire professional life,” Chopra Jonas said.
While she felt “dared to give an explanation for the obviously different nose” over the years, Chopra Jonas decided to “draw a line” and simply keep it private. “I am an entertainer. That’s what I’ve signed on to do, and that’s what I love doing. I will say my lines, dance my dance, hit my mark. I’ll do my best to make you laugh, and I’ll do my best to make you cry, but just because I’m a public person doesn’t mean everything about my life has to be public knowledge. I get to choose what I share and when I share it,” she wrote.
She ultimately ended up getting multiple corrective surgeries to fix the damage that was done during the polypectomy, and now, the star feels like her “nose normalized… While it took a few years of seeing a stranger gazing back at me every time I looked in the mirror, I’ve gotten accustomed to this face. Now when I look in the mirror, I am no longer surprised; I’ve made peace with this slightly different me,” Chopra Jonas said. “This is my face. This is my body. I might be flawed, but I am me.”
I mean… that’s her story, and I have no evidence to dispute her story. I’ll say this though – it’s quite common in India, and in the Indian-American and British-Indian communities, to get nose jobs. There are so many mixed feelings within the Desi community about Indian noses and, simultaneously, people who get nose jobs to get more Anglo-looking noses. Priyanka’s right though, the nose drama really changed her whole face. I can’t get over how beautiful she was with the OG nose though.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.
She did it for vanity reasons, nothing more. Just admit it already.
Agreed, that story is far-fetched but whatever.
She did it for corrective surgery reasons, nothing more. Just accept it already.
I had a BADLY deviated septum. Had surgery for it. My nose stayed EXACTLY THE SAME on the outside, bridge, nostrils, everything. She had SEVERAL nose jobs, as it’s VERY easy to see from the pics, which is no crime, but for God’s sake, don’t LIE about it. We can SEE she had several, as well as a boob job, and skin lightening. Frankly, I think she was gorgeous w/out it, but her choice. I’d’ve stopped after the one in the polka-dot dress. Stunning face there.
The bridge of your nose is *bone*. A inexpertly removed polyp (soft tissue/mucous membrane appendage) will not cause bone to collapse.
She should have stuck with the scalpel creating some kind of cartilage injury that was somewhat disfiguring/asymmetrical.
Clearly the end result of the surgery is that the *tip* is shortened- the bridge/bone structure/ width appears unchanged. Only the tip is blunted/shortened- there’s more real estate between her nose and upper lip.
I agree, she was just stunning with the face her parents gave her. She’s lovely now, but no longer drop dead stunning.
I have had a three nose jobs for breathing and 100% vanity bc of a childhood accident where it was sliced down the middle with a snow shovel. I have met with surgeons many times over. It is not easy to make a nose smaller, the surgeries are very precise. I wanted my nose to be smaller, again it’s not easy and I highly doubt it’s ever made smaller by accident. Particularly shaving cartilage. They have to remove the cartilage and reshape it. Again not accidental type things. To correct a bridge they have to crack the existing nose bone and reshape it. I don’t buy her story.
Yeah I hate to say it but I also don’t buy her story either. I’ve had nose surgery too (deviated septum and polypectomy), and I specifically told my doctor I don’t want to change the shape/look of my nose. I mean he asked too since people combine plastic surgery with a DNS/polypectomy, but it’s a whole other process and it doesn’t really happen accidently. I know others who got a combo DNS/aesthetic nose job and it’s fine.
Deviated septum and polypectomy here too – I did ask the surgeon to straight my nose though – it had a left lean, courtesy of a charming partner who broke it. My point is though, that they CAN make changes during these procedures – but it’s not something that they do as standard!
*raises hand* I had sinus surgery 2 months ago for a deviated septum, polypectomy (plus 2 other procedures). A septoplasty does not change the shape of your nose, unless it was severely deviated and only then would straighten it. My surgeon likened it to renovating the inside of your house:. the interior is different, but to look at it from the outside, nothing has changed. If I wanted a new nose, I could have got a plastic surgeon in at the same time, but chose not to.
No one cares if people have plastic surgery for vanity reasons. More power to anyone for taking that step. But people do care when they’re being bullshitted.
“it had a left lean, courtesy of a charming partner who broke it”
Hugs.
My best friend had this surgery. She has terrible sinus problems. They don’t touch the shape of your nose.
I also had nose surgery for a badly deviated septum. I had been in a car accident in which my face went into the windshield and couldn’t breath through one nostril. I was scared and asked the surgeon if my nose would look different. He laughed and said “no that’s just what actresses say to magazines”.
He just realigned the inside of my nose. There were zero changes to the exterior. I wish he had to be honest! I’d love to get rid of the hump.
Basically, she’s lying. Just admit you got a bad nose job.
I’ve had nasal polyps removed about four times, the first time in the late 80s. I had childhood asthma and sinusitis. Never had any such complication and I don’t recall the doctor telling us it was a risk. So I am not buying it either. That said, it’s her business if she wants to alter her face. I don’t think she needed to, but it’s her call.
I had nasal surgery for sinuses too, and my brother just had polyps removed last year, and no change, it’s all internal. I suppose a horrific accident could have happened during surgery, but if that were the case, would you say that the first time someone called you “Plastic”? I wouldn’t let that go for years if I were the victim of a medical error, but who knows.
If she is lying, I can understand why – some people can be really snobby about plastic surgery. She shouldn’t feel like she has to lie though, at the end of the day it’s her body and her money.
Yeah, I thought we were past this? Women don’t need to claim “deviated septum” or “surfing accident” anymore. It’s fine. You had a nose job. Lots of people did.
This always makes me think of Rachel in Friends, that was her story.
I also think it was cosmetic, but celebrities constantly lie about their reasons. On the other hand, can you blame them? We can say women should be comfortable with their natural looks, not get nose jobs, or boob jobs, or lighten their skin, or get liposuction, facelifts, etc. — but the reality is, they probably wouldn’t have a career if they didn’t get the work done. I don’t blame any woman for that, but I do wish they would be honest, as a reminder to people what the entertainment industry does to women and why it needs to change.
Maybe, but I do believe her when she says a stranger was staring back at her. I had reconstructive surgery on my face at 17, and yeah, it was to correct a cross bite and underbite, so vanity played a role. But when I looked in the mirror after surgery I was like “who the f*** is that?” It was really hard and took years to come to terms with the stranger in the mirror.
This sounds exactly like the joke among Persians that the women get a nose job in their late teens/early twenties because of a “breathing problem.” Priyanka obfuscates and twists the narrative and her image constantly, so of course she’s not copping to getting nose jobs due to industry pressure.
Google pictures of her pre-surgery, ANY surgery, and this story would never hold water. Philtrum surgery is also obvious. Kim Kardashian had the same thing done.
Kim is another one who was much more beautiful with her natural face.
Yeah. I had a septoplasty… and it was nothing like a rhinoplasty. I doubt this story, but whatever. It’s her nose!
“While shaving off the polyp, the doctor also accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed.” This sounds like an impossible feat. I’d love to hear what a plastic surgeon says about this. It all sounds like an elaborate fiction to me.
I’ve had polyps removed a few times and she must have had a pretty bad surgeon.
Yeah. It sounds like ‘he was removing my appendix, pulled the skin too tight when sewing and so accidentally it resulted in a breast lift’
Earlgreyhot haaaaaaahahaha this comment
Comment of the day! Her story is so patently ridiculous it makes me think less of her.
When I first glanced at the thumbnail I thought she have a famous, equally beautiful, sister.
Yeah she was a stunner with her OG nose. Maybe it’s just me but i generally like ethnic looking noses. I am not a fan of the L.A. nose currently in fashion via plastic surgery (ski jump slope style) cause what’s going to happen when it falls out of fashion like pam Anderson’s 90’s breast implants?
Yes, her original nose was… literally the most beautiful nose I have ever seen?? It was a nose written in cursive. Like you, I am especially drawn to noses that defy certain eurocentric beauty norms — for example, my husband has a big Italian beak that is in many ways the source of his handsomeness. Sometimes I have waded into “nose self-love” Twitter threads, where people will post selfie after selfie, and it really moves me when people can see themselves the way others see them.
She was so beautiful, her and Kim K’s mods baffle me. I’m feeling gracious and will believe her version of events, although I’m certainly skeptical. Also- has she been lightening her skin over the years? While skimming through pics I noticed she used to be much darker it seems. Le sigh.
Except it’s not just the bridge that’s different, it’s every aspect of her entire nose has been trimmed, slimmed, and reduced. How did getting the bridge “accidentally” shaved off make her nostrils half their size, reduce the tip, remove the hanging columnella (the part where a septum ring goes)?
I really don’t understand plastic surgery. 90% of the time, the person looked better before. I still think she had a nose job even before some of these early photos, but she took it further and lost a lot of her natural character.
Totally agree. I’m all for people having the choice of making themselves feel more confident in their skin…but with that being said, it still hurts my heart that one’s natural beauty isn’t appreciated and is instead tinkered with needlessly.
Natural beauty, exactly! I enjoy watching European films because there is definitely less of this, and you notice that people’s individual traits and features make them a more interesting character. Kim K is another one that was so beautiful before she went for the generic mold.
I agree most look better before, because too often people go overboard and you can tell there’s something not quite natural happening there.
That said, a friend from college got a nose job in her 20s, and she’s thrilled with it and it is more flattering. Ashlee Simpson’s was very well done. Sometimes subtle work is great. Sometimes not.
What hateful people. Bridge collapse is a known side effect of surgeries like septoplasty. Literally, the deviated chunk of cartilage is excised from the septum and removed leaving the upper strip and lower strip intact traversed by a thin bilayer of mucoperiosteum. If you excuse too much the bridge will collapse. It is absolutely possible that this might have happened. And also entirely possible that she is fabricating it. But if both the accounts are plausible, I would rather believe a woman talking about her body because how she wants to shape narrative around her body and the changes pertaining to it is her prerogative. And I choose to believe her account if it is not entirely implausible.
I am glad you said this. I was looking at the side-by-side photos in the post, and I thought to myself, “No matter the reason for the surgery, it’s clear that it was botched.” Her nostrils are two different shapes now, and the bridge is actually *skewed* from collapse (it was perfectly straight before).
I hate to even suggest it, but I almost wonder if the surgeon decided to do “more” than just removing polyps and correcting her septum without her explicit knowledge (since so many people “double up” anyway). I have a deviated septum and polyps (and severe sleep apnea), and I’d be terrified to have too much nose shaved off, because my nose is already too small for my face.
Except she herself says she had a polypectomy, not a septoplasty.
One thing I’m curious about is why so many media outlets, this one included, have stopped adding the Jonas to her name? I mean, just by looking at the headlines over the last few days from many websites, I thought they had gotten divorced or separated! Curious… 🤔
Weird how celebrities always have “breathing problems” and “deviated septum’s” that require surgery that makes their noses smaller and more European looking. I’ve known regular folks have those same issues and surgeries and they come out with the same nose as before. This story is so far fetched. Someone that rich somehow gets a doctor that botched the surgery? You couldn’t get a better doctor? I don’t buy it.
Crazy how many Hollywood starts have problem breathing through their noses right lol common already
I actually sort of believe her. I do think her first nose job was botched, whether or not it was for a polyp. If you look at her original nose, the bridge is much skinnier than her current nose. This is the opposite of what usually happens in Hollywood nose jobs, where the bridge is made narrow (and the tip is made shorter and more sculpted).
Suuuure. Her mother has a plastic surgery clinic too, but I’m sure that has nothing to do with this elaborate story.
Her mother going into plastic surgery actually suggests to me that it was actually botched. What is going to motivate a gynecologist to pursue plastic surgery? Definitely seeing your daughter be failed by a surgeon and every thing that she has gone through to correct it and not wanting the same to happen to someone else’s daughter.
lol right, makes so much sense for both of her parents ( they both run it) to suddenly switch careers. And has nothing to do with money.
It makes me sad how much her face has changed over the years. I don’t know much about Indian culture but based off the comments it seems the women are pushed/encouraged in a certain direction. Maybe she wants to change that pressure by telling this story. I hope she is well and happy. That the sacrifices were worth it.
What happens with surgery lately? I see so many ads or news about it… She was beautiful before, i have never seen her old pics… I have seen several articles in major media about Eva Mendes saying she is for surgery and she has done (she even post it with a text on her instagram and in the end it is honest at least). Than other about Nicole Kidman and an interesting article about the fact that we will never see her «natural face getting older and how she would have looked ». In all the cases, as here, they where looking better before for me… By the way, i have mixed feelings If i like it or not because some friends begin to do botox and all that stuff like it is the new way to take care of your skin and your body. It becomes more affordable
I broke my nose running into a door and had to have surgery to have it reset. The surgeon singlehandedly decided to give me a perfect rosebud nose instead of my greek nose. It was hugely difficult to cope with emotionally, so I can feel her pain. Seeing a stranger staring back at you in the mirror is very disorienting and confusing. I feel like I lost what made me imperfect and what made me me. Prianka’s story does not make her sound vain to me. It makes her sound relatable, humble and real. Thank you Prianka for sharing your story!
This is the reason I will never, ever get a nose job. I have a few Korean friends who have gotten one, and I honestly can’t recognize them on their Instagram anymore. I always have to scroll back up and stare really hard because I don’t get how someone can look so similar but so different. I can’t imagine looking into the mirror and seeing a different person. That sounds so fucking annoying. I’d rather stay ugly and be able to recognize myself, but then again, I’m not out here trying to win pageants too.
Oh my god, I was just wondering about this upthread — I’m scared to get my nose fixed (ACTUALLY fixed, not “fixed”) because I have gotten the impression that these doctors really do take artistic liberties with the surgeries!! My heart goes out to you! What the doctor did was so wrong!
I hate how ethnic looking noses only get compliments when these people tweak it. And what’s the purpose of it-so the person with the new nose can feel go back to square one and feel insecure about their nose again?
I didn’t know much about PC. I always thought there was something about her face that made it look slightly unnatural. But she’s so pretty, I remember being drawn to her in her 73 questions with Vogue video.
She was really stunning before. When beautiful people mess with their face ( like Kim Kardashian who was beautiful in her pre surgery days) they mostly end up looking like some homogenized western idea of what beauty is, looking so boringly alike without any individuality, character or uniqueness.
Wow she really was so beautiful. Plus it seems she also bleached her skin? 🙁
I had observed the skin tone change and wondered that as well!
It’s possible that her skin is lighter because she lives in a different climate compared to back then. My complexion is lighter now that I’m living in a colder climate. When I return to my home country, it darkens. My skin is still brown, but the tone of the brown changes. Imagine a white person tanning during summer and losing the tan come winter. It’s the same for us too.
She had backlash a few years ago when people (outside of India) found out she was endorsing skin lightening creams in India. I’m guessing she actually uses the products? I don’t know but it’s hypocritical to talk about acceptance but go ahead and promote products like these. I’m Indian and I can tell you skin lightening creams are a HUGE business in India.
What’s especially shitty with how skin lightening creams are marketed in India is that bc of what skin lightening creams actually are (they are usually retinoids/AHAs/vit C), they almost always need to be paired with sunscreen with adequate SPF. This is where the whole skin lightening creams cause skin cancer issue stems from. Bc of the way these serums cause cell turnover, they make the skin much more vulnerable to sun damage. The fact that skin lightening creams are marketed at the rate they are, but without the proper caveats stating that they MUST be paired with adequate SPF sunscreen is not just horrific, it’s downright irresponsible. Campaigns that challenge these types of products need to not only push for dismantling stifling beauty standards, but they also need to figure out how/if these companies can be sued for negligence for what they’re doing.
The other ironic thing about skin lightening creams and sunscreen is that wearing sunscreen in and of itself prevents skin from tanning. The fact that skin lightening creams are being marketed at the rate they are in India, while proper knowledge about sun protection is almost completely nil is another point of concern. Contrary to popular belief, skin cancer is not just something that afflicts people with a paler complexion–anyone who is exposed to the sun without adequate sun protection is at risk of getting skin cancer, and there needs to be more knowledge about this, especially in a country like India.
I find it so disheartening how pretty much EVERY actress has had a nose job. If it makes you feel better about yourself or is a medical need, good for you for getting it done. But I remember growing up feeling so insecure about my very normal, slightly wide nose, and it’s because every woman I saw on TV had a nose job and I had no idea!
I just recently saw an older photo of Gal Gadot and was shocked how different she looked. Here I was thinking she naturally looked that way — lol!
That’s her?! I thought you posted the wrong person! Kind of a Jennifer Gray moment.
Am I the only one who didn’t realize she wore colored contacts as well until seeing these older photos?
I think she looks outrageously beautiful before and after.
I am not sure how to feel about her “story” but in general, women are damned if they do, damned if they don’t when it comes to plastic surgery. So if someone were to make up a lie, I don’t blame them.
I do think it is sad how so many women want to be the same exact version of beautiful, when most of them look more beautiful in a more “interesting” way BEFORE surgery, I feel that way about her. But if she didn’t feel beautiful, then I can’t blame her.
Imagine being named Miss Universe and still being insecure about your looks. That’s so sad! I hope she is feeling more confident in her skin these days. She’s obviously gorgeous, then and now.
Ear, Nose, and Throat surgeon here – I’ve done hundreds of the surgeries she’s describing and that explanation doesn’t make sense. You don’t even touch the bridge of the nose if you’re just removing a polyp.
Thank you for a voice of reason. I know nothing about plastic surgery but her story sounds far-fetched.
Boom! Thanks for chiming in- that’s what I posited above, as well.
My old bf has 2 sisters that were state pageant winners. Nose jobs were a requirement, otherwise you would be letting down your state’s competitiveness in reaching the finals.
If she got her nose job after she won Miss World, that’s sad. If anyone gave me grief for my nose after winning the Miss World pageant, I’d ask them how many titles they’d won with their face. That being said though, the rumours are, that she got some work done before she went onto the pageant itself. Looking at the pictures, I honestly can’t see it, but I’m bad at spotting that sort of thing, so w/e.
I will say, *some* parts of her story ring true. I believe that she definitely had to get some surgery for breathing issues. I believe there was some degree of damage at some point from that surgery. I don’t believe that that alone explains 100% of it, or that it explains 100% of her reasons for getting a nose job. And I’m sooo surprised to hear that nose jobs are so common for Indian women? I’ve never heard of that at all, but I have gotten some very very covert ribbing from my family about my nose (and my mom’s nose, and my dad’s nose) being too long/big/cucumber/eggplant like. I have to say I never really connected the dots, but it’s just as likely that I grew up really really really sheltered, LOL.
Gosh, I remember when she won her Miss World titled. I was a kid and I still lived in India. I remember the pageant in general being such a big deal. It was the same year that Lara Dutta won Miss Universe, and Dia Mirza won Miss Asia Pacific. The fact that all three of the biggest pageant titles at the time were swept by Indian women, in the year 2000 (which was the new millenium), was a biiiiiiiiiiiig fucking deal. All three of those women were plastered EVERYWHERE bc of all the brand endorsements they got–it basically launched all their careers. I have no memory of watching any of the pageants themselves, but I remember I’d see the mashups of the clips on TV whenever my parents would channel surf, LOL.
I left India in 2002, and now I’m feeling all nostalgic for my childhood there, lol. I remember how bugged out me and all my Indian friends in North America were when she got engaged to Nick Jonas, LOL. The Jonas brothers were the other side of the coin as far as our childhoods went for a lot of us, so it was (and remains) just a WEIRD culture clash between the two different spheres. These are truly some wild ass times we live in, tbh.
Anyway–I’m super curious to see what she has to say in her memoir about Shah Rukh Khan, or she’ll leave him out of her memoir entirely. That’s going to be the biggest gossip by far, but I wonder whether any Indian media outlet would cover that shit now, or if they’ll just hint at it and skirt around the issue as usual, lol.
Seems not only her nose changed
I had a nose job because I absolutely hated my original nose. Big bump in the middle and a droop on the end. It was the best thing I could have ever done for myself. I admit it freely to anyone who wants to know, although to be honest the surgeon did such a great job and it totally fits my face so much so that if I tell anyone, they are flabbergasted. I have nothing to be ashamed of. When the time comes for a facelift, I’ll do that too and won’t lie about it. I’m empowered by the fact that I was unhappy about something and I had it corrected. 🤷♀️ 👃
I would tell everyone too!
I look at nose jobs on Instagram a lot (Instagram shows them to me, I look at them, so Instagram keeps showing them to me, lol), and I find the type of cosmetic surgery you’re describing really, really emotionally moving. At a certain point elective surgery becomes a quality-of-life thing. There are some truly amazing “nose revisions” where the nose basically retains most of its shape and size, so that the character and harmony of the face are preserved, but the nose is no longer what other people dwell on. (Someday I will probably get a breast reduction for similar reasons — I know people who have gotten them who could not be happier about it.)
I had one too, and I am not ashamed of telling people. I love it, but for the first few months it was weird and I didn’t recognize myself. Now, I look back and I wish I didn’t wait twenty years for one. I think it would have saved me a lot of heartache. She looks beautiful either way, and other people are saying she ad other things done, and I all I see is a different nose.
YES! If you want something done, own and be happy about it! I’m happy for you! But no one should lie. Don’t answer? Fine. But don’t lie.
She was stunning with the OG nose. This would have been a great opportunity to talk about the pressures on eg Asian women to conform to Western beauty standards to ‘make it’. I don’t judge her for the nose job but just don’t talk about it if you can’t be honest.
The age old lie about the necessary surgery. If you write a memoir at least be honest. The nose was “botched” because of a plastic surgery. You didn’t like your old nose and changed it. It would’ve been a great starting point to start talking about beauty standards and how white features are considered more desirable.
*raises hand* I had sinus surgery 2 months ago for a deviated septum, polypectomy (plus 2 other procedures). A septoplasty does not change the shape of your nose, unless it was severely deviated and only then would straighten it. My surgeon likened it to renovating the inside of your house:. the interior is different, but to look at it from the outside, nothing has changed. My nose still looks exactly the same, dammit. If I wanted a new nose, I could have got a plastic surgeon in at the same time, but chose not to.
No one cares if people have plastic surgery for vanity reasons. More power to anyone for taking that step. But people do care when they’re being bullshitted.
Can’t wait for the stories like this on Ryan Gosling’s nose job.
Her story might be partly true.. I broke my nose when i was 9 and fixed it at 18. I asked to remove a small bump since my opération was planned and paid. My nose was straight after but my septum was distroyed. Then I had to get it fixed again and it is Not better. I should do it again as doctors recommend but I dont have her money hahaha
To me she had a real condition and Vanity..
And that doenst explain the eyes and skin color changes