Beauty is pain.
One year after undergoing a full facelift, Denise Richards is sharing all the details on her transformative plastic surgery experience.
“Originally I had been thinking about doing just my neck,” the “Wild Things” actress told Bunnie Xo on her “Dumb Blonde” podcast Monday.
“Then a friend of mine — she’s very well-known and she’s not public about hers — and she said to me, ‘You have to do the whole thing.’ And I was like, ‘I don’t want to do the whole thing.’ I was scared.”
Denise Richards shared new details on her 2025 facelift on Bunnie Xo’s podcast Monday. Dumb Blonde Podcast/Instagram
The “Wild Things” actress said she had “never done anything” to her face besides Botox and fillers. Dumb Blonde Podcast/Instagram
The “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star, 55, said she had “never done anything” to her face besides a “little Botox” and “some fillers.”
However, after researching and speaking with Beverly Hills-based plastic surgeon Dr. Ben Talei, she decided to move forward with the procedure last June.
“His work was impeccable. I saw so many before and afters. And I just said, ‘Do what you want to do.’ I was terrified, but he did everything,” Richards recalled.
“He did the lower neck, the lower face, the upper, the brow lift. The only thing he didn’t do were my lower lids. He did my upper lid. But I mean, he did the whole thing.”
Richards said Dr. Ben Talei did her lower neck, lower face and an upper brow lift. Dr. Ben Talei/Instagram
She said the doctor didn’t do her lower lids. Dr. Ben Talei/Instagram
Richards went under the knife in June 2025. Dr. Ben Talei/Instagram
The “World Is Not Enough” actress and Bunnie — who also had a facelift in March — then bonded over how “painful” the surgery is.
“When I was told, ‘Oh, it gets better as you heal,’ and I’m like, ‘How with gravity? How are we going to get better?’ And it does,” Richards said.
“It’s like your face settles or something. It was the best thing I did for myself.”
The “RHOBH” star (seen above in March 2025) said the surgery was the “best thing [she] did for [herself].” Getty Images for ABA
Richards (seen above in March 2026) praised Dr. Talei for his “impeccable” work. Getty Images
Bunnie, born Alisa Carter, added: “I don’t think people realize how big of a surgery it is. I was down for the count. I had to, like, go into hiding for a little bit.”
In March, Richards shared her before-and-after photos nine months after going under the knife.
In a separate post shared to her Instagram Stories, she called the surgery the “best thing I could’ve done for myself.”
