Holly Willoughby appeared horrified as she and co-host Phillip Schofield discussed the latest treatment loved by celebrities and social media stars. The 'Fox Eye Facelifts' involve inserting plastic threads at the side of the eyes, to stretch the skin and create a new look.
Despite being billed as a quick and 'pain-free' procedure, more and more people are reporting life-threatening side effects. Discussing the treatment on Wednesday's This Morning, Holly and Phillip were joined by influencer Ryan Ruckledge, who was gifted the procedure to promote it to his thousands of followers.
However, the former Big Brother contestant was hospitalised and claims he nearly died following complications. Ryan decided to appear on this morning to warn against the "dangerous procedure".
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When asked by the ITV daytime show's host why he decided to have the surgery last year, Ryan replied: "I'll be completely honest with you, someone contacted me and offered to do it for free if I promoted it, so I said yes." He claims the message said: "I’ll give you it for free. She just messaged me saying I’ll give you a £500 treatment.
"And I was like, 'yeah I’ll have it.'" Holly, 41, then admitted to 'wincing' when she read about Ryan's story. Then, as images of him post-surgery flashed up on the screen, he was heard saying: "Oh my God, imagine me trying to pull a fella looking like that! I look like an avatar!" The hosts and guest then laughed as Phillip, 60, commented he ended up with 'bizarre' details in his forehead.
He revealed that the procedure left him with "pus coming out of the side of his face" and shared he regret at putting his "impressionable followers at risk." Ryan said: "That’s why I’m on here to speak about it. I feel so guilty that I’ve obviously gone on to social media. I’ve been given this freebie thinking 'oh yeah I’ve got this £500 treatment for free, I’ll just put a few tags on Instagram,' and obviously I didn’t think anything of it.
"If it hadn’t had gone wrong, I probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it, but because I’m now thinking, 'I’ve got a younger sister that’s 16, if she was older and seen that.'"
When Phil asked if he felt supported by the clinic where he had the surgery, Ryan replied: "I don't really wanna speak about the clinic," before adding: "I don't feel like I was supported in the after care, no."
But his appearance on the show did divide This Morning viewers. @mikepriestley13 said: "Why would you want that done.. fox eyes? #ThisMorning." @shrimpsy291 tweeted: "Wtf is up with these people trying to change and inflate their most precious feature #ThisMorning."
Referring to Ryan's reality TV past, @MrCellophane121 fumed: "#ThisMorning, why not interview actual people about actual problems instead of this guy with his 'fox-eye facelift' who has done the rounds on every reality show from Big Brother, X-Factor and Just Tattoo Of Us?"
While @pardy_monkey wrote: "I think Ryan deserves credit for admitting it was a big mistake getting that procedure done @ryruckledge #ThisMorning." @NilvedS added: "@thismorning this Ryan is very likeable despite his foolhardiness - which he admits - great banter!! #foxeyefacelift #ThisMorning." @X_Liv_X
