No matter how addicted you are to reality TV, sometimes our favorite stars step away
from the spotlight, only to return with a whole new look.
The following famous faces may be tough to recognize today.
Mama June’s dramatic transformation
Most of us remember June Shannon, better known as Mama June, from her days on the hit TLC
show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
The quirky series, which starred the mother and her Mountain Dew-guzzling beauty pageant
daughter, was abruptly cancelled in 2014 amid major controversy surrounding Mama June’s
love life.
The reality TV matriarch found herself back in the reality TV spotlight in 2017, but this
time, she looked a whole lot different.
"I got a big surprise for y'all."
In a major shock to fans, the mother of four had lost a whopping 300 pounds and slimmed
down to a comparatively teeny-tiny size four for her new reality show on We TV: Mama June:
From Not to Hot.
Since her comeback, the reality star has managed to keep off the weight, which she initially
lost through a series of surgeries.
Her secret to keeping off those pesky pounds includes a non-doctor-approved method of skipping
breakfast, sleeping until 1 p.m., and indulging in plenty of cheat snacks.
Snooki changed for the better
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has come a long way since her humble, drunken beginnings on MTV's
Jersey Shore.
The pint-sized reality star spent the better part of the series pounding shots, tearing
up the dance floor, and fielding fist fights with her castmates, constantly sporting her
signature wardrobe of bedazzled tank tops and shockingly short skirts.
However, Snooki has come a long way since the cast left the shore house in 2012 and
was permanently banned from Seaside Heights, New Jersey.
The reality star has competed on Dancing With the Stars, become a New York Times bestselling
author, married Jionni LaValle, given birth to two adorable children, and announced her
third pregnancy in November 2018.
Against all odds, the busy mom has also adopted a clean-eating lifestyle and rigorous fitness
regimen that helped her lose 42 pounds after her first pregnancy.
Snooki revealed on the Today show:
"Like, I knew I couldn't party anymore, because now I'm a parent; I have to take care of someone
else.
So the partying's done, basically.
But it was more about getting in shape and being a fit mom."
Jwoww goes full glam
During her tenure on MTV's Jersey Shore, Jenni Farley, better known as JWoww, became Snooki's
lifelong BFF.
It's hard to tell which member of this dynamic duo should snag the superlative of "Most Changed
Since Season 1," but JWoww certainly gives Snooki a run for her money.
Much like her bestie, Jwoww has chilled out since leaving the hard-partying summer home.
She has since had two children with her husband, Roger Mathews, and even launched a web series
with Snooki called Moms with Attitude.
It's not just her new lifestyle that makes the thirty-something reality star almost unrecognizable.
Her face is undeniably different, something she claims has nothing to do with plastic
surgery.
JWoww did admit to getting a second breast augmentation in 2015, and many have speculated
the star has had Botox, particularly because she’s said she's all for the procedure.
"My philosophy is: if you wanna get something done to make yourself feel better, then do
it.
Whether it's a hydrafacial like I'm getting done today, or your boobs, which I've also
gotten done..."
Though JWoww already looks like a new woman, fans can expect more changes in the future
as the star has been open about potentially going under the knife to combat aging.
Jwoww told Entertainment Tonight in 2016:
"I love the way I look.
I am totally honest and open with it.
I do not want a saggy face in 30 years."
Kelly Clarkson couldn’t care less
Most of us don't even remember that pop singing powerhouse Kelly Clarkson was once a humble
reality TV show contestant.
In 2002, the singer was catapulted into fame when she won the very first season of American
Idol.
Her first album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and Clarkson went on to garner more
Grammy wins and nominations in the best pop vocal album category than any other artist.
However, her professional success has been plagued by a struggle with her weight.
The Kelly Clarkson that had her TV debut in 2002 and starred in the iconic rom-com flop
From Justin to Kelly might have been a fraction of her current size, but that didn't mean
she was happy.
Clarkson told Redbook magazine:
"It's when I'm fat that I'm happy.
People think, 'Oh, there's something wrong with her.
She's putting on weight.'
I'm like, 'Oh, no!
I'm sorry, but that represents happiness in my emotional world.'
For me, when I'm skinny is usually when I'm not doing well."
Goth teen to lavender bombshell
Kelly Osbourne got her reality TV start alongside her rock-n-roll parents, starring on the hit
MTV show The Osbournes when she was only 17 years old.
The series aired for three years and smashed TV records in 2002 when it became the most-watched
program on the cable network.
Though it lost its title years later to Jersey Shore, Kelly's career flourished, but the
famous daughter was drowning.
According to People, Osbourne had been struggling with drug addiction since she first encountered
liquid vicodin after getting her tonsils removed at age 13.
She later admitted that her drug use was the worst during her mother's battle with cancer
and her father's 2003 ATV accident.
It was only when she was committed to a mental health facility that she experienced a major
wake-up call.
In her memoir, Osbourne detailed the experience, writing:
"Mum once locked me in a mental institution for three days, and it scared the hell out
of me...I heard Mum's message loud and clear: stop using drugs before I was gone for good."
Since then, Osbourne has turned her life around and looks like a completely new person, trading
in her goth-inspired wardrobe and harsh black hair for high fashion and soft lavender locks.
During her busy career as a TV host on shows such as Fashion Police and The Real, the star
dropped 50 pounds, and Osbourne said she feels more fabulous than ever.
Farrah loves plastic surgery
Farrah Abraham had one of the most tragic backstories in the original 16 & Pregnant.
Her ex-partner, Derek Underwood, died in a car accident two months before she gave birth
to daughter Sophia.
However, Abraham has come a long way since that difficult first season.
She's transitioned from a reality TV star with a brief stint in rehab to an adult entertainer
with an adult toy line.
And thanks to her newfound obsession with plastic surgery, the starlet looks almost
nothing like her former self.
According to The Huffington Post, she kicked it off with breast implants, then moved to
chin implants and a rhinoplasty in 2012.
The surgeries cost her about $16,000, a small price to pay considering Abraham was gearing
up to star in her first adult film.
Since then, the reality star has reportedly had three breast augmentations, vaginal rejuvenation
surgeries, and some near-fatal botched lip fillers.
According to the vicious rumor mill, it doesn't seem like Abraham plans to quit having procedures
done anytime soon.
After her supposed second vaginal rejuvenation procedure, the starlet allegedly expressed
interest in a fourth breast augmentation, butt implants, as well as lipo-sculpting.
Keeping up with Kylie
Kylie Jenner made her TV debut when she was just 10 years old, appearing alongside her
parents and siblings on Keeping up with the Kardashians.
The starlet has spent more than a decade in the spotlight with cameras filming her every
move, though she somehow cleverly managed to hide an entire pregnancy from the press.
Today, Jenner looks a whole lot different than she did in the show's first season, and
it's due to a lot more than just puberty.
In 2014, Jenner emerged on the red carpet with a set of noticeably plumper lips.
Though the starlet denied having lip fillers and claimed she was merely overlining her
lips with makeup, she eventually admitted the rumors were true.
She even acknowledged that she went a little bit overboard when she was new to the procedure.
Jenner revealed to the New York Times:
"I still do Juvéderm for my lips.
I go to Dr. Ourian in Beverly Hills.
He's the best, and he's super natural about it.
I was going to somebody before, and it was just looking crazy."
Jenner has been subject to numerous plastic surgery rumors because of her changing looks,
but the reality star has denied them all.
However, her super plumped-up pout helped Jenner launch a booming cosmetics company
that continues to flourish, so it's not all bad.
Heidi’s time under the knife
Sun-kissed reality star Heidi Montag rose to fame on MTV's The Hills.
Unfortunately, her boyfriend, Spencer Pratt, cast himself as the villain of the series
and wedged a divide between Montag and her BFF Lauren Conrad.
As true fans know, Pratt's shenanigans led to the iconic episode in which Conrad utters
the ever-quotable, era-defining phrase:
"I want to forgive you, and I want to forget you."
The world has definitely not forgotten Montag since her days on The Hills, but thanks to
a litany of plastic surgery, fans may have a hard time recognizing this California girl.
According to Extra, Heidi underwent a shocking 10 cosmetic procedures in a single day in
2009, including a chin reduction that now causes her chronic pain.
"Are you telling me you don't think I look good?"
"Maybe you should rephrase the question."
That same year, Montag and Pratt got married and embarked together on a lavish lifestyle
that ultimately led to their financial ruin.
"I was in way over my head with the surgeries.
I had no idea what I was getting into or that it was a lifelong commitment.
It was very challenging, both physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally, on my
husband and on our lives."
Heidi has since had some of her cosmetic work removed, worked to regain financial stability,
and tried to learn from her past.
The reality star told Entertainment Tonight:
"I have learned a lot from it, and I just want to move forward."
Chip Gaines goes hairless
HGTV fans were gutted to find out that Fixer Upper was ending after five seasons.
For nearly six years, Chip and Joanna Gaines worked their way into our perfectly renovated,
shiplapped hearts.
The couple had been charitable on the show in the past, renovating homes for military
veterans and teaming up with Tim Tebow's organization for a special episode.
Luckily, just because the cameras aren't rolling anymore doesn't mean the couple has been any
less generous.
Their good will continues to change the lives of those in need, and it also changed Chip's
looks, at least, temporarily.
Known for his shaggy hair and beard, Chip looked nothing like his former self when he
shaved his head and face for charity a month after the couple announced its show was coming
to a close.
In November 2017, Chip and Joanna visited the Target House with St. Jude's Hospital
in Memphis, Tennessee where they raised more than $230,000 for Operation Haircut.
Chip posted an Instagram video of his spirited cut, and in a post of her own, Joanna wrote:
"We're leaving Memphis changed."
Of course, one half of this Texas-based pair left a bit more changed than the other.
Love looks good on Carly
Carly Waddell has come a long way since she was rejected by Chris Soules on the 19th season
of The Bachelor.
In her reality TV debut, Waddell had long bleach blonde hair which was always tousled
at the ends, her eyebrows were pencil thin, and her style was a combination of casual
t-shirts and slinky dresses.
Though she was one of the more likable characters on the show, Waddell's look made her almost
indistinguishable from the rest of the cast.
Since then, Waddell has given herself a major style, and life, upgrade.
The star competed on the second and third seasons of Bachelor in Paradise, where she
finally found true love with fellow Bachelor Nation star, Evan Bass, whom she married in
August 2017.
These days, Waddell is a busy mom who's barely recognizable from her former reality star
self.
She traded in those slinky outfits for comfier clothes, dyed her hair back to a stunning
natural brunette, had a complete eyebrow makeover, and is positively glowing in her new role
as a mom.
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