Plastic surgeon faces backlash after speculating about celebrities’ looks

If you have been on social media in the last week, you’ve probably seen the video. Los Angeles-based plastic surgeon Dr. Daniel Barrett went viral after posting a clip guessing the treatments Love Island U.K.’s latest batch of sexy singles had undertaken ahead of the show, but not everyone’s happy about what he said.

With the clip receiving more than 11.9 million views and over 1 million likes, there will be a couple of comments disagreeing with Barrett’s views, but his choice to share the video after making incorrect assumptions on the contestant’s ages had come after fire. The founder of Barrett Plastic Surgery, Beverly Hills, told Newsweek what he thought about the video.

In the viral clip, shared to @barrettplasticsurgery, Barrett was playing a game of ‘natural or not’ with his team, who showed him images of the four female contestants and asked to share the cosmetic procedures they had undergone. Reality stars Nicole Samuel, 24; Harriet Blackmore, 24; Jess White, 25; and Samantha Kenny, 26, were all under Barrett’s microscope, leaving the doctor shocked to discover he had aged them by as much as 18 years.

Now, setting the story straight, Barrett told Newsweek how he “almost didn’t post it because I didn’t want to make them feel bad for the work they’ve had done and call them out on it.”

The surgeon added: “We did not expect the response that we got, but there was an overwhelming sense of agreement online, and everyone seemed to think we had guessed their age appropriately, based on how they look. I’ll be watching the show now as a result of this.”

While some would ask why Barrett would share content in which he was so wrong, he said: “We decided to share it because my responses were genuine and we believe in transparency and thought it did have some value for awareness purposes.”

Speaking on why he mistook the young women to be so much older than they are, Barrett said it may be down to poor practice from their provider: “It appears that primarily their filler has been overdone and was excessively administered in the majority of cases, resulting in an exaggerated look that gives an aged appearance.

“As a provider, it’s very important to understand your patient’s goals and educate them on the potential implications of doing too much too soon. Most of these people probably didn’t need anything and were naturally beautiful to begin with, not that they aren’t beautiful now, but I take a less-is-more-approach.”

As for the impact of shows like Love Island on younger generations, Barrett said: “These shows are great for the beauty industry. Whether they positively contribute to standards of beauty is debatable.

“By shedding light on what these aspirational reality stars might do to attain their appearance, we help demystify what is real and what is not. My intention is never to expose anyone, only to level the understanding that these people in the public eye often are not naturally ‘perfect’ as impressionable viewers might think, and that’s OK.

“By openly talking about the measures people in the public eye take to achieve their looks, I would hope it helps alleviate the societal pressures that make everyone feel imperfect by comparison,” Barrett added.