Priyanka Chopra Says Botched Nose Surgery Sent Her Into a “Deep, Deep Depression”

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Priyanka Chopra is getting real about the aftermath of her botched nose surgery. Though the actor and new mom had previously opened up about the experience in her 2021 memoir, “Unfinished,” she recently shared more about how it severely impacted her mental health in a May 2 interview on “The Howard Stern Show.”

“It was a dark phase,” Chopra told the radio-show host. She went on to explain that seeing her face look “completely different” sent her into a “deep, deep depression,” that made it difficult for her to leave the house. In addition to her own reaction to her new appearance, she said she was fired from three different films after the surgery. At the time, Chopra was a rising star in Bollywood, and she felt her career was “over before it started.”

Chopra’s father ultimately encouraged her to get corrective surgery to fix the original procedure. Though she describes feeling “terrified” of going under the knife again, she said her dad “held my hands through it and helped me build back my confidence.”

In her memoir, Chopra first spoke about the disastrous results of her nose surgery. During a routine polypectomy (an operation to remove polyps from within the nose), the surgeon accidentally shaved the bridge while trying to remove the tissue. “My original nose was gone,” she wrote in her book, according to Insider. “My face looked completely different. I wasn’t me anymore. I felt devastated and hopeless.” She shared how the experience affected her career, as she lost jobs and was called “Plastic Chopra” by the media. “My career, a career based so much on physical appearance, seemed to be over before it had even really started,” she wrote.

This isn’t the first time Chopra has gotten candid about her health. In March, she reflected on her journey to motherhood during an episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast, talking about her decision to freeze her eggs in her early 30s. “It’s the best gift you’ll give yourself because you’re taking the power from your biological clock and you can work until however long you want,” she said then.