Dr Terry Dubrow and Dr Paul Nassif are back for their third season of Botched on E!, once again trying to turn plastic surgery nightmares into dream results and a reality the patients don't mind living.
Dr Terry Dubrow and Dr Paul Nassif / Credit: E!
With the return of some fan favourites and the inclusion of extreme cases, we couldn't say no to getting some time with Dr Dubrow and Dr Nassif to chat all about the new episodes. Find out what they had to say below...
What should viewers expect from the new third season of Botched on E!?
Terry: Third season is much more dramatic and much riskier to both patients and ourselves because, we are seeing patients who we've turned down previously, we've now used our new experiences and skills we've obtained from three and a half years of doing impossible plastic surgery, and applying it to give them hope. We're taking on cases that we turned down previously and in addition, we're seeing patients who we turned down previously who ultimately ended up having more plastic surgery resulting in disaster. Now they've come back to us with not just questions for improvement but to make them 'normal' again. So, it's a completely different season, really different to seasons one and two.
We'll see former WWE wrestler Chyna on the series who recently passed away - could you tell us a little bit about her case?
Terry: Chyna was in a very good place when she came on our show. She was going through a real reneissance period of her life where she was really healthy and really happy. She had had significant problems with her breasts which she had sustained while having surgery in Europe. We were able to work with her and get her in a really, really good place. We haven't seen Chyna for many, many months and things happened, we're being very sensitive to what happened to her. It's very unfortunate, we're letting the smoke clear before a decision is made as to whether or not to show her experience on Botched. But it was a very positive one.
Having to reject patients in the past, do you find that aspect of the job hard?
Paul: We're pretty used to it, we've been doing this a long time and we have to play psychologists. Obviously it's always hard when you tell a patient you can't help them, because maybe it's a physical constraint with the surgery, but in regards to telling a patient that they're not realistic and they're not appropriate psychological candidates, we're pretty used to it. It's always hard to do but, I think we do a pretty good job when doing that.
What is your personal, most memorable case from the show so far?
Terry: My most memorable case so far is the first episode, season three, the premiere episode where we bring back Rajee who had illegal cement injected into her face. She was turned down by dozens of plastic surgeons in the past including us, and we formulated a plan, offered her that plan, although very risky she decided to take that plan. We took her on, went through a series of procedures not without difficulties, then you have to watch the show to see what happens, but it's very dramatic.
Paul: Last season, Luci, the lady who got into a motorcycle accident, hit her face on a big wall. She had multiple surgeries to reconstruct her nose which really never turned out great. She became kinda housebound where she didn't do a lot of activities and also, her little daughter was autism separate - her Mom didn't really take her out to a lot of places. When we did examine her, we did a special test because, there was something peculiar with her examination, and the test came back with two enlarged aneurysms in her brain that would have killed her, whether it was one day, one week, one year, 10 years, who knows? But they were pretty big aneurysms. So we saved her life. In addition to what we did, we ended up giving her a lot better nose. It was a very difficult surgery where we had to do it in two stages. We had to put a flap up in the cheek up to rebuild her nose, and then just rebuild the nose overall. So at the end of it, she did a lot better, she was happy and her life was saved. She was starting to do things with her children and not hiding, so that's fantastic for me.
Though you've both been on television before, how did you feel on camera when Botched first started filming? Did it take some getting used to?
Terry: I'd done a lot of reality TV plastic surgery. Before I'd done Botched I'd probably done over 200 operations on television so, I didn't even process the cameras there. The main thing I noticed about the cameras is how much heavier Dr. Nassif looks on camera than he does in person.
Paul: Thank you! That is true though, I am a lot thinner in real life. I like hearing that.
Can you tell us about some of the most complicated cases you've seen in the past?
Paul: This season of Botched, there are cases that we're doing that were very, very challenging to us and we don't think that we could actually get these fantastic results - we don't even think that we could help them because we know there's a high risk of doing these procedures, but we've taken them on.
Also on Botched By Nature, the new show that we'll be doing, same type of difficulty. We are dealing with either trauma or a previous surgery that has really devastated our patients. When we look at them, we say, 'Oh my gosh, I don't think we can ever fix this', but we are taking them on just like Dr Dubrow talks about Rajee. It's extremely intense.
Why do you think the show is so popular with viewers across the world?
Terry: I think that as opposed to some reality shows, everyone that may be on is as authentic as they could be, everyone knows that this is real. Although there's a light side to the show and there's an entertainment value, at the end of the day, this is no joke. This is as authentic as it gets. We are putting patients under general anaesthesia and subjecting them to a surgical procedure that could definitely make them look worth, but we're offering them hope, and it's kind of an inspiration for those people who had no hope in the past. There is a measurable, discernable outcome that you can see. It offers a real aspect of storytelling that we all like in great stories.
Would you like to take the show global and perhaps to other countries?
Paul: That would be interesting. If Dr Dubrow and I did not have a medical practice or other responsibilities with family and the kids, it'd be very interesting. Unless we did it in a couple week period of time. It would be very interesting to travel across the world.
Terry: We have a new show coming out very soon called Botched By Nature where Dr Nassif and I travel throughout the country in the United States and we help people who have congenital deformities or who are victims of accidents, one of the patients is struck by lightning, so we have expanded the Botched franchise to beyond plastic surgery and now as a travelling show as well. So we're very excited for that.
Finally, what's next for the both of you?
Terry: I think a diet is in order for Dr Nassif after a recent unfortunate weight gain.
Paul: And a date night for the two of us to grind and have fun! No, well we both are actually, besides having a medical practice, besides filming different shows - also we'll be filming Botched Post Op coming up too, which is a show that'll be airing with Heather Dubrow, Terry's wife is the host of the show, that'll be aired after Botched By Nature, we're doing that. The only other thing we're working on is the skincare lines, I have Nassif MD, my skincare line which we're really focusing on at Home Shopping Network and also at Macy's.
Terry: I have a book coming out with my wife called Dr. and Mrs. Guinea Pig Present the Only Guide You'll Ever Need to the Best Anti-Aging Treatments, that provides non-surgical solutions to anti-aging. We're very excited about that coming out in the fall.
Botched continues on Tuesdays, 9pm on E! and is also available on reality TV streaming service hayu.