Julie Chen made a surprising confession on CBS’ The Talk Wednesday morning, revealing that she once had plastic surgery to make her eyes bigger.
Check out the Julie Chen before-and-after photos right here:
The 43-year-old Chinese-American TV personality explained:
“My secret dates back to – my heart is racing – it dates back to when I was 25 years old and I was working as a local news reporter in Dayton, Ohio.”
“I asked my news director [if] over the holidays, if anchors want to take vacations, could I fill in? And he said, ‘You will never be on this anchor desk,
The reason was simple, too: “‘Because you’re Chinese.'”
“He said, ‘Let’s face it Julie, how relatable are you to our community? How big of an Asian community do we have in Dayton?'” she recalled him saying.
And he wasn’t finished: “‘On top of that, because of your Asian eyes, I’ve noticed that when you’re on camera, you look disinterested and bored.'”
“Well, fast forward, I’m like I need to get another job – if I can – so I start meeting with agents for career advice,” she said.
“This one big-time agent basically told me the same thing. He said, ‘I cannot represent you unless you get plastic surgery to make your eyes look bigger.”
Chen discussed the surgery with her parents, and with their support, she went under the knife. “And after I had it done, the ball did roll for me,” she said.
“And I wondered, did I give in to the man? I have to live with every decision that I’ve made. And it got me to where we are today. And I’m not going to look back.”
What do you think of The Talk and Big Brother host’s admission?