The Queer Eye's Karamo Brown has opened up about the plastic surgery experience that left her in chronic pain.
Brown, 45, told People in an article published on Tuesday, June 2, that the 2021 buccal liposuction procedure caused scar tissue to block saliva from her cheeks.
“For years, people have been, like, 'Karamo has had plastic surgery. She has a lot of filler in her face,'” the reality TV star told the outlet. “I was like, 'You know what? But I was in pain for years and nobody knew.'”
Brown explained that once the salvia has dried on each cheek, the scar tissue will tighten. “There were times when you could see me smiling, and it was strong,” he said. “My cheeks would be big because they were full of saliva, full of scars.
Brown, who joined the Netflix reboot of The Queer Eye in 2018, she also told the outlet that she signed up for the procedure after “gaining about 70 pounds during the COVID-19 crisis.”
He recalled at the time, “I was a big guy, and everybody on the Internet liked to tell me how big a guy I was. So, I was like, 'Okay, maybe if I slim down my face, I'll be cute.' It turned into a year and a half of pain.”
Former MTV The Real World The cast member added that the pain she felt intensified after the premiere of her daytime talk show, The Karamo Showin 2022. (It was canceled in March after four seasons.)
“I was shooting six episodes a day, and there were times when I was filming my show that my mouth was very dry and swollen,” he told the newspaper before confirming that he had lost 70 pounds to try to cover the scar. “The more weight I lose, the less scar tissue,” he explained. “The scars and scars were still there, but because I had thin skin, I looked normal, I stopped eating because it helped me not to have such a scar.”
In recent months, Brown “underwent a procedure to repair his salivary glands” that removed scar tissue from his cheeks.
Brown has had a 2025 rock in other ways, too. In February, his ex Carlos Medel confirmed her split from Brown via an Instagram post. “Even though I'm single this year, I still want to make sure there's love! Medel wrote after dating Brown in 2021.
Brown's interview no People and tested his recording skills The Queer Eye and his Fab Five expenses, all of which were split according to Brown after a sexual harassment complaint was filed against him. (The show's final 10-episode season premiered on January 21, and Brown was the only cast member not to promote the season before its premiere.)
Queer Eye's Antoni Porowski addresses viewers who are concerned that the “backstage drama” is hurting the show's healthy “vibe.” Porowski, 41, shared a series of photos from the 10th and final season of the Netflix show, which premiered on Wednesday, January 21, via Instagram, encouraging fans to tune in. […]
Brown described a set of The Queer Eye as a workplace full of allegations of misconduct. “Everybody was just saying, 'That's just the person,' instead of, 'This behavior is out of line,'” he said. “It had a negative effect on me, always.”
He also said that he was cleared of all the bad things he did behind the scenes The Queer Eye.
