Alicia Douvall

Alicia Douvall was born Sarah Howes on 24 July 1979, and raised in Horsham, West Sussex.^{[1][citation needed]} At the age of 12, Douvall developed anorexia nervosa as a coping mechanism for the emotional distress caused by her father who often called her "ugly" and "stupid," resorting to extreme dieting, consuming minimal food, and often went days without eating.^[2][3] After she became pregnant with her first daughter at 15, she was pulled from school and kicked out by her parents.^[1]

In the late 1990s, she changed her name to Alicia Yasmin Douvall, and began her modelling career, posing for Page 3 and presenting on Playboy TV, earning £5000 a month.^[1][4][5] She went on to receive extensive tabloid coverage for her kiss-and-tell stories on Mick Hucknall, P Diddy, Mickey Rourke, and Dean Gaffney.^[6] Douvall underwent her first breast augmentation at just 17, which she viewed as a way to "enhance" her features and feel more feminine.^[7] According to Douvall, she has undergone more than 350 procedures; including at least 18 breast augmentations, 11 rhinoplasties, a chin implant, liposuction, rib contouring, butt implants, facelifts, and even had her toes shortened equaling out to over £1 million.^[2][5]

After birth of her youngest daughter in 2011, Douvall pledged to never have cosmetic surgery again after being diagnosed with sepsis, having a swollen lymph node and lump.^[8] In 2015, Douvall said she regretted getting plastic surgery, saying: "I would have not had surgery at all. I can't believe I was so gullible and believed what that they told me," she later said that cosmetic procedures should not be accessible to anyone under 21.^[7]

In 2006, Douvall appeared on ITV's Celebrity Love Island for its second series, where she was the first evictee.^[9] In 2009, Douvall took part in the Sky Living reality series, Rehab, which documented her, along with other celebrities, being treated at a rehabilitation centre in Malibu, California, trying to overcome her addiction to plastic surgery.^[10]

In 2010, Douvall and her eldest daughter, Georgia, were the subject of the BBC Three documentary, Glamour Models, Mum and Me, which showed Douvall and Georgia, travelling to Nashville, Tennessee, in hopes to getting Georgia a modelling contract in Los Angeles, the programme documented Alicia often encouraging Georgia to seek plastic surgery.^[11] In 2012, there was a follow up documentary entitled, Glamour Model Mum, Baby and Me, this time, focusing on the pregnancy, and later delivery of Douvall's second child, Papaya Coco Piri.^[12]

On January 7, 2015, Douvall joined the fifteenth series of Celebrity Big Brother, which premiered on Channel 5.^[13] She became the second housemate to be evicted on Day 17, placing eleventh overall.^[14]

In 2011, Alicia and her eldest daughter, Georgia, founded the organic skincare brand, The Douvall's, which is vegan and cruelty free. The line has expanded to argan, body, and hair oils, makeup, candles and room spray, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, and children sleep spray. The Douvall's is sold at Sephora, Debenhams, Superdrug, Walmart, Amazon, and many online boutiques.^{[15][citation needed]}

In 2016, she published her autobiography, Don't Call Me Ugly. The memoir recounts her childhood struggles, and experiences with fame, plastic surgery, as well as her six month affair with Simon Cowell in 2011, with whom she claimed to have sex eleven times in one night.^[16]

Douvall is dyslexic. In an interview with The Sun, she said, "Because I'm dyslexic I left school at 14 without learning to read or write, so I don’t have any of the basics other people have, like the alphabet,"^{[17][citation needed]}

In 2009, Douvall entered the Passages Addiction Treatment Centre in Malibu, California, claiming to be addicted to plastic surgery, stemming from body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), which she had been diagnosed with years prior.^[2]