Denise Richards has revealed she only went public with her $200,000 facelift because her ex-husband Aaron Phypers forced her hand in court.
Richards, 55, made the disclosure during an appearance on The Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg Show, explaining that Phypers, 54, intentionally mentioned the cosmetic procedure during legal proceedings between the estranged spouses. The former couple, who wed in 2018 and separated last year, have been navigating the fallout from their split, and Richards now describes the marriage as her greatest regret.
“He said something in court about it on purpose,” Richards told McCarthy. “I figured, you know what? I just need to be honest.”
The Wild Things star had initially kept the March 2025 procedure private, waiting eight months before confirming it to Allure magazine that she had wanted to “put things back up, where they were before.” Richards, who had never previously had facial work done though she got breast implants in the 1990s, admitted to being “terrified” throughout the experience.
“Being in the public eye since my 20s, people know what I look like—a facelift is not something that I could hide,” she told the publication.
Rather than let Phypers control the narrative, Richards chose to disclose the surgery herself. She expressed gratitude that some members of the media who were present in court declined to report on his remarks, giving her space to address the matter on her own terms. “I was so pleasantly surprised because there was media in there that didn’t print it, which was nice,” she shared on McCarthy’s show.
Richards added that she didn’t want to give her ex the “power” of making her cosmetic work public, and she has since embraced transparency about the process. “I didn’t know how people would react, but I think I want to know what everyone’s doing,” she said, praising her surgeon for doing “such a great job” that she felt compelled to share the information.
The pair’s relationship began when Phypers was employed at a wellness store, a meeting Richards now wishes had never happened. “I wasn’t looking for a relationship, but it happened,” she reflected. “It was a good time in my life, too, where my girls were getting a bit older and everything was behind me with Charlie.”
Phypers adopted Richards’ daughter Eloise, whom she adopted in 2011, a year after their Bravo-documented wedding on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Richards has since declared she will never marry again, telling McCarthy, “Absolutely not. I don’t want that piece of paper.”
“This, I regret. I’ve never regretted anything,” she said of the marriage, adding that she “wishes she never stepped foot in there.”