Danniella Westbrook has had a piece of her rib inserted into in her face to battle osteoporosis.
Danniella Westbrook
The former 'EastEnders' actress has revealed doctors were initially keen to implant some of her skull into her face to help her deal with the condition, which weakens bones and makes them more likely to break, but insisted "dental work" was to blame rather than years of drug abuse.
She said: "They [doctors] wanted to take some of my skull but they want to use the floating rib instead.
"This side I have no cheekbone at all because of osteoporosis - nothing to do with cocaine at all.
"If it was cocaine I would openly say it was, like when I had the hole in my face I openly said it was.
"Osteoporosis, for me, was led to by bad dental work. When I was doing excessive amounts of drugs and when I lost my nose I would've got osteoporosis back then. After 13 years clean I wouldn't have got it now, I would've got it when I was doing it every single day of the week and a full blown addict.
"I wouldn't have just got it in the last three years.
"I've got a weak bone where the bone didn't close around the screws."
Despite suffering from the bone-weakening condition, the ex-'Hollyoaks' actress insisted her face "is not collapsing", and she is "OK".
She said: "Sometimes I get up and think 'I just can't do this anymore', not in a suicidal way.
"I just think, 'This is really such hard work, most people don't take all this rubbish in a year, a lifetime.'
"My face is not collapsing, I'm not bankrupt, I'm not homeless, I've never been bankrupt and I'm OK."
The 44-year-old star has been doing a lot of writing work of late, for books and TV shows, and admits she has a "nice life".
Speaking on 'Good Morning Britain', she added: "I am together. I'm very together.
"I live mostly in Spain, I have a nice life. I write a lot of TV shows, I'm writing books and producing a film. I do a lot people don't see.
"I am working, I do a lot on the other side of the camera. My life is very much together."
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