Brandi Glanville, best known for her time on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, has revealed what was behind the dramatic changes to her face — a health ordeal that also resulted in her losing five teeth and spending $200,000, taking a serious toll on her mental wellbeing.
The reality star previously alarmed fans when she spoke about what she believed was a facial “parasite,” posting photos of her disfigurement to show how severe the situation had become.
On a recent episode of the I Do, Part 2 podcast, Glanville expanded on the emotional impact, explaining that her confidence plummeted as she began noticing major shifts in her appearance.
After months of appointments — and paying significant medical costs herself despite having insurance — she eventually learned what was driving many of her symptoms.
She explained that while mammograms didn’t show anything concerning, a sonogram later found that her 20-year-old breast implants had ruptured. According to Glanville, silicone was leaking “in both my lymph nodes.”
She said the rupture coincided with a wave of health issues and a noticeable decline in her mental health.
“I haven’t had sex in three years, the whole time I’ve been sick, because I lost my confidence,” she said on the podcast.
“I feel like I lost everything at once. I lost my job. I lost my reputation. I lost my looks.”
Glanville also shared that when things felt at their worst, she pulled away from most people and largely kept to herself, aside from spending time with her sons, Jake, 22, and Mason, 18, whom she shares with ex-husband Eddie Cibrian.
She added: “I’m still working on my confidence. It’s just a lot of — it seems silly — but as women, when you look good, you feel good.”
In total, she said she consulted 21 doctors while trying to pinpoint what was making her unwell, ultimately spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.
“The [implants] were making me sick,” she finally said.
“I went to 21 doctors. I’m telling you, [it cost] $200,000. I had insurance but the people at my insurance, Kaiser let’s just say, sucks.
“I was paying out of pocket to see specialists, infectious disease doctors, rheumatologists. Every doctor you can think of, I saw.
“It came on overnight. I have weird lumps in my neck. … I still have them. I can’t explain the brain fog. The fatigue.”
Glanville has since chosen to have her implants removed, and she says her recovery is already pointing in a positive direction.
“I’m two weeks out right now, but the first week, I was, like, up. I was actually doing too much because I was so excited to be moving,” she said.