“Little House on the Prairie” actress Melissa Gilbert spoke candidly about her experience with cosmetic procedures, saying it made her look worse, not better.
The 59-year-old celebrity said it all started when she was preparing to appear on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2012.
“I was approaching 50 and there was this panic of, ‘This is it. I’ve got to wring this out while I can,’” Gilbert told People during a recent interview. This age milestone inspired her to make a few “bad choices” when it came to beauty enhancements.
“I literally looked like Carrot Top, the comedian. My hair was too red, and when I did Botox, I became the spawn of Satan with pointy eyebrows,” she said. “I had no facial expression, which is anathema considering what I do for a living.”
She added, “It’s exhausting keeping up that kind of façade. I was very insecure.”
The former child star met her husband that same year and credits his influence with helping her pivot to a more natural look.
“I embraced it,” she said of looking older. “And when I would say, ‘I think I’m going to stop coloring my hair,’ he’d say, ‘Can’t wait to see what color it is. This is so exciting!’ When I said, ‘I think I want to get my breast implants taken out permanently,’ he said, ‘Do it!’”
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“It’s incredibly uplifting to be with someone who says, ‘I love you exactly the way you are,’” Gilbert told the outlet. “It makes a big difference to come home to someone who sees me in sweats with no makeup on and my hair back in a ponytail and goes, ‘Oh, you are the most beautiful woman.’ As opposed to someone who goes, ‘I think you could lose a little weight.’ Or, ‘I’m getting nervous about these lines around your eyes.’ Which did happen in my past.”
“I don’t color my hair anymore,” she continued. “I don’t put any fillers or Botox in my face. I take care of myself to the best of my ability, but I am what I am. I am not going sacrifice my own well-being because someone expects me to be something they have in their mind.”
The actress said being famous for playing 12-year-old Laura Ingalls Wilder on the show is part of what made her feel she had to always look young. But now she’s happy to have aged.
“I wouldn’t want to be younger,” Gilbert said. “I wouldn’t want to have to learn these lessons again. I like where I am. Happy in my skin, happy in my life.”