The wife of celebrity chef and paleo advocate Pete Evans has said she is ready to have kids with her celebrity chef husband after correcting what she called the biggest regret of her life. And she wants to stop other women from making the same mistake.
Appearing on Channel 7's Sunday Night program, Nicola Robinson said her decision to have breast implants was a choice driven by fear, and a way of feeling better about her body.
But after years as a model and working the catwalk, Ms Robinson decided to have her "two toxic silicon implants" removed. Now, she hopes her story and reversal surgery will encourage other women to do the same.
"I didn't like how they looked," she said to reporter, Alex Cullen. "I didn't like how they felt. I was just so ashamed of myself. And that's just such a pointless emotion to really feel, because it holds you in the past. It stops you from enjoying the present moment."
Ms Robinson talked about breast implant illness, a condition which is yet to be officially recognised by the Australian Medical Association. Nonetheless, she — and some others who have had implants — firmly believe implants are doing serious damage.
For Ms Robinson, that's despite her implants remaining intact when they were within her body.
"The implants themselves weren't ruptured at all, but my surgeon agreed to get the scar tissue that he removed tested for silicone. And, sure enough, it was riddled with it, which proved that even though the implants hadn't ruptured at all, the silicone was still leeching," she said on the program.
"I knew 100 per cent too that they were making me sick and essentially ageing me. So it just made perfect sense to me that they had to go. There's just so many advantages to not having two large bags attached to your chest."
Evans stood by his wife's decision: "They're causing her body and other women's bodies major issues."
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Both Evans and Robinson, who met while in Adelaide in 2011, are high profile advocates of the paleo lifestyle which involves no consumption of grains, dairy or legumes.
But the pair claim her silicon implants were making the 40-year-old sick, with Evans saying on the program that his wife was experiencing "major issues" with her body.
Back in March 2017, the former model spoke on the same program about why she wanted to have the implants removed.
"I wasn't leading a natural life," Robinson told Channel 7's Sunday Night program. "You know, I dabbled in fillers, Botox, all sorts of things that were driven by my fear … to try and make myself feel better."
Following the interview, Ms Robinson took to Instagram and revealed that she would be "finally freeing" herself of "two burdensome implants that I naively had sewn into my chest back when I was seeking self acceptance in all the wrong places".
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Those who believe breast implants can cause illnesses have said they have suffered from chronic fatigue, sinus infections, dry skin, headaches, sudden food intolerances, allergies, fevers, loss of vision and even vertigo — some women who claim they are victims of the condition say it can be debilitating.
On the show, mum of two Mel Ward, 37, was seen having her ruptured implants removed.
"I never had breasts growing up, and I found myself in situations where I was comparing myself to other women and I thought that was one thing I could alter that would make me feel like I had a feeling of self-worth," she said.
But the implants did not make her happy which is one of the reason they had to go.
Mr Cullen visited Ms Ward just hours after her surgery and, despite the short time span, she told the reporter she immediately felt different.
"I don't have brain fog. It's literally gone. I feel clear in my head."
Earlier this year, 26-year-old Emma Novotny told news.com.au that she her breast implants removed after developing food intolerances, migraines, sinus infections, night sweats and monthly bouts of severe tonsillitis.
"I went to a local GP and also got diagnosed with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) about four months after my [breast] surgery," she said.
"I had no menstrual system for some time, I got eczema and swollen lymph nodes.
"My body was attacking itself, I had eczema all over my hands, there was abnormal mercury levels in my body. There were days I couldn't get out of bed — I was in crippling pain. It was causing me to get deeper depression because all these things were happening around me and I couldn't participate.
"I became someone I didn't recognise, and I tried to take my own life because of it. From the outside, I probably looked fine to people, but I felt like I was going crazy."
IN an interview with Perth Now, fashion model Ricci Jess explained how her breast augmentation led to what she believes was a decade of illness and suffering caused by the implants.
Since their removal, Ms Jess says she's now free of medication and pain.
"This is not about the surgeons but about the implants. I don't think any of them are safe," Ms Jess told PerthNow.
"For 14 years, my body was trying to fight the toxins but once the silicone built up too much my body eventually gave up and I ended up with adrenal fatigue and failure."
Both Ms Jess and Ms Novotny joined a global movement to warn women about the dangers of implants.
"Women definitely need to educate themselves about all the risks before they consider getting any type of implants," she said.
In a statement to news.com.au, Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery president Dr Ron Bezic said there was no proof that the symptoms experienced by these women are related to breast implants.
"Long-term studies have shown that symptoms such as chronic fatigue, eczema, migraines, food intolerances, depression and allergies are no more likely in individuals with breast implants, than those without implants," Dr Bezic said.
"It has been established that women with such symptoms who do have breast implants, and have them removed, are no more likely to get better than those who keep their implants. "Because these symptoms are unfortunately quite common and because many more women now have breast implants, there will inevitably be more women with implants who have the symptoms but this does not mean that implants are the cause.
"Anecdote is no substitute for scientific evidence. All patients with these symptoms are vulnerable and they should ensure that information given to them is based on proper evidence so they are not misled by individuals who may have ulterior motives, financial or otherwise."
Dr Bezic said any women seeking breast augmentation should ensure their surgeon is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery.
"ACCS Fellows must undergo up to 12 years of medical and specialist cosmetic surgery training, making them the best equipped in their field to perform these types of procedures," he said.
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