Brandi Glanville and Linda Evangelista are returning to the spotlight after being “disfigured.”
The 51-year-old reality star and the 58-year-old supermodel have both spoken out about experiencing negative effects to their appearances following health complications. Earlier this week, Glanville explained that she retreated from the public eye after she was diagnosed with stress-related angioedema.
During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star recalled that she first began experiencing facial swelling after going into anaphylactic shock in August.
“I’ve had some health issues that have affected my ability to talk,” she said. “My ability to taste food, my face basically would swell up, like I would have anaphylactic shock, go into anaphylactic shock constantly. And I saw seven doctors, and their answer to it was stress-induced angioedema.”
LINDA EVANGELISTA ‘PLEASED’ TO SETTLE $50M COOLSCULPTING CASE AFTER FAT-FREEZING TRAUMA: ‘I AM TRULY GRATEFUL’
Angioedema is swelling in the deeper layers of the skin and commonly affects areas around the face and lips, according to the Mayo Clinic. Symptoms can include skin welts, swelling and mild pain in the affected areas. Angioedema is typically treated with antihistamines or steroids.
Patients are advised to seek emergency treatment if they are experiencing swelling in the tongue, lips, mouth or throat or if they are having trouble breathing.
In October, Glanville was hospitalized after her condition worsened, and she collapsed at her house. The California native revealed her health scare in a post she shared on X, formerly Twitter.
“I collapsed at home this am and my SON had to call 911 for help! You guys have no idea the amount of stress I’m dealing with,” she wrote. Glanville shares sons Mason, 20, and Jake, 16, with ex-husband Eddie Cibrian.
Glanville told Entertainment Tonight she believed the angioedema was brought on by stress from allegations against her by “Real Housewives of New Jersey” star Caroline Manzo.
Manzo accused Glanville of giving her unwanted kisses and groping her during the filming of “The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip” season 4 in Morrocco last January. Glanville has denied the accusations and told ET she has retained a lawyer. She was asked to leave the show after the incident, and Manzo also decided to exit the production.
During her interview with ET, Glanville recalled that she was rushed to a hospital after a phone call with “Real Housewives” executive producer and host Andy Cohen.
“I was on the phone with Andy Cohen, and I was talking to him about the entire situation,” she recalled. “I was just given some very disappointing news, and I couldn’t take it. The stress just, my eyes swelled shut, my hands [swelled up]. I laid down before I fell down, but an ambulance came, and I spent two days in the hospital, trying to figure out what’s wrong.
“It’s affected every aspect of my life. My boyfriend and I broke up. I can’t pucker my top lips still because it swelled up so much. It would swell up and go down, swell up and go down. And now I can’t kiss. It is hard to talk because the inside of my mouth gets swollen.”
“I’m not the same anymore right now,” she added. “Everyone’s like, ‘You look great,’ I’m like, ‘I don’t feel like I should feel, I don’t look the way I used to look.'”
The television personality told ET that she underwent EmFace, a non-surgical procedure that sculpts and firms the face. Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Dr. John Layke recommended that Glanville try EmFace to treat the effects of her angioedema.
“It’s amazing technology called HIFES technology, which is high-intensity focused electro stimulation, electromagnetic stimulation,” Layke explained to ET.
“And the idea behind it is that we put certain applicators onto areas of the face and we have muscles in the face that either pull our expressions downward as in a frown or we have it upwards in a smile. And, so, this technology selectively will contract the muscles that elevate the face.”
Glanville said she had noticed positive effects from the treatment.
“I thought that was my new normal,” she told ET. “I was just going to be this giant pumpkin head. It’s insane. I took my health for granted.”
Peacock has since delayed airing the fourth season of “RHUGT.” Glanville told ET the postponement has contributed to her stress.
“I just want it to air so I can move on with my life,” she said. “Nothing happened, that’s all I can really say. This false narrative has been going on for 10 months. It’s been the worst year of my life. Worse than my divorce.”
Glanville said the scandal has cost her work.
“I feel like I have this scarlet letter on me, I really do,” she told ET. “This is my life, this isn’t just reality TV fun — like we got into an argument and threw wine. This is my life.”
Like Glanville, Evangelista also stepped back from the spotlight after health complications that affected her appearance.
In 2021, the supermodel alleged she had been “brutally disfigured” by a botched Coolsculpting procedure in 2015 and said she had become a recluse as a result. She subsequently filed a lawsuit against CoolSculpting’s parent company, Zeltiq Aesthetics Inc., for $50 million in damages. Evangelista revealed that the lawsuit was settled in July 2022.
Over the past year, Evangelista has made a modeling comeback. In September 2022, she made her return to the runway when she closed out the Fendi show during New York Fashion Week. It was her first runway appearance since 2008.
Evangelista appeared on the cover of Vogue’s September 2023 issue alongside fellow ’90s supermodels Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell and Christy Turlington.
Earlier this week, Evangelista was revealed as the solo cover star of V magazine’s January 2024 issue. The Canadian appeared on four separate covers for the fashion magazine.
On New Year’s Day, Evangelista shared one of her V magazine covers to Instagram, writing, “Happy HEALTHY peaceful New Year filled with love to you all.”
In the image, Evangelista was pictured covered in gold paint on her face and arms while wearing an orange wig and a gold sleeveless turtleneck dress. She rocked a bold red lipstick and black cat eye eyeliner along with a gold manicure.
V magazine also posted the cover on Instagram and shared details about the photo shoot and the campaign in the caption.
“WELCOME TO 2024—LINDA’S BACK…AND THIS YEAR, SHE’S GOING FOR GOLD!” the caption said.
“Introducing V Magazine’s new spring preview issue, V146, an explosion of fashion fantasy featuring the beloved @LindaEvangelista, starring in a series of four celebratory covers that we hope will brighten up your new year!
“After her nearly five-year hiatus from the industry, fashion’s ultimate ‘chameleon’ returns to the pages of V as she reunites with photographer @StevenKleinStudio for their first photo shoot in over a decade. Taking her transforming abilities to new levels with the fantasy-filled styling of @Patti_Wilson, Linda is proving she is back and bolder than ever — reminding us all of exactly what we’ve been missing since the last time V saw her.”
In another cover image, Evangelista posed in a black lace catsuit with a crimson satin cape. Her hair was styled in a retro bob and she wore dramatic red eye shadow.
Evangelista posed for a closeup while covered in black lace with a lace hairnet and gloves in another cover shot. The fourth cover featured the model in an oversize black lace garment that covered her head and shoulders. A lock of Evangelista’s hair was curled down over her face, and she held a small red tulip in her hand.
While Evangelista has resumed her modeling career, she recently revealed she hasn’t dated since the botched cosmetic procedure.
“The Super Models” star told The Sunday Times in November she was “not interested” in pursuing a romantic relationship, and her last date was “definitely before the CoolSculpting” procedures, which began in August 2015 and continued through February 2016.
“I don’t want to sleep with anybody anymore,” Evangelista added. “I don’t want to hear somebody breathing.”
Evangelista described herself as a “germophobe” with “self-diagnosed OCD.”
When asked what she sees in the mirror, Evangelista responded, “Oh, I don’t look in the mirror. My son will say to me sometimes, ‘You might want to know that you have a pimple on your chin.’ And I’m like, what? But life is better without mirrors.”
Evangelista shares one son, Augustin James, with French businessman François-Henri Pinault.
“Motherhood is my whole life now,” she said during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in 2013. “It’s the best. I am so fulfilled.”
Evangelista, who has survived two cancer battles, revealed therapy has helped her heal some wounds at least.
“Well, I don’t blame myself anymore. I’m not hard on myself any longer,” Evangelista said. “And how people feel about me still bothers me a little bit, but it used to bother me a lot. I know now that I didn’t do anything wrong. For the longest time, I thought I did.
“I’m not completely rid of it, but I work hard at getting rid of the guilt and the shame. And I’m not letting it ruin my life. I wouldn’t have stayed locked up if I’d known how many people cared.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.