When "The Swan" premiered in 2004, it promised to turn its "ugly duckling" contestants into graceful "swans." But more than two decades later, former contestants are sharing a different account of their experiences on the controversial reality series.
As other early 2000s shows like ABC's "Extreme Makeover" advertised beauty transformations, "The Swan" unfurled a list of body modifications, dietary restrictions and an exhaustive cardio routine for its hand-selected ladies.
Creator Nely Galán recruited experts in physical and mental health along with plastic surgeons Dr. Randal Haworth and Dr. Terry Dubrow for the task. Following the two-season series, Haworth says the women were "very, very happy" with the results.
More than 20 years later, Hulu's
"The Swan: Behind the Mirror" is painting a different story.
In the 100-minute documentary, former contestants detailed strict program rules, staged reactions, botched enhancements and hefty medical bills. Haworth and several producers from the original series also share their perspectives.
Former contestant Kari Bravata said she was asked to pose for a nude photo shoot, despite her pushback. The unaired photo shoot was designed for a coffee table book.
Another contestant, Cindy Ingle, discovered a left breast implant leak and paid $10,000 to have it replaced.
Beth Harris, a Season 1 finalist, said her breast implants became asymmetrical after the show, and with a $40,000 price tag, she couldn't afford to fix it.
Despite the emotional and physical scars, some women had positive experiences and said they'd do it again.
In an interview with USA Today, Haworth broke down the controversial photo shoot, the risks associated with cosmetic surgery and whether he believes the show went too far.
This interview was edited for clarity.
Question: What happened in the unaired nude photo shoot.
Dr. Randal Haworth: The photographs were going to be exceedingly artistic and [photographer] Dah Len would be providing the lens, the oversized cameras, the backdrop, the lights. He had his team. He would create the consistency and the professionalism. All of those pictures, unlike what was implied, were of various parts of the human body. So it would be the face – that's part of the body – the nose, the eyes, the breasts, as appropriate, and the lower body. So it was not, as portrayed, a nude photo shoot, nor was it ever in "The Swan."
Kari also mentioned the photo shoot was filmed in a garage?
It was a loading dock. It would be impossible to have, in the small clinic rooms, Dah Len and his team and his equipment and all the backdrops, etc... So this is ideal and it was made into a professional shoot just as much as a downtown warehouse is made into a professional shoot for Christina Aguilera or so on and so forth. So that is the reality of it. And when the book never took flight, it was shelved and the pictures just remained as part of the patient's clinical records, safely stored.
Some of the women felt like they didn't give consent or they didn't have a say in whether they could participate or not. Was that an option?
I was totally unaware of that. Dah Len had model consents, but also we had patient consents. We would take clinical photos, and it was very voluntary.
What about after "The Swan"? Some contestants have described hefty medical bills for ruptured and deflated procedures.
A patient pays me for surgery for a breast aug, let's say. Never seen him. I do the surgery. Then let's say five years later, one encapsulates or ruptures. They come to me and there are going to be associated charges for that. It even happens in a hospital. Let's say insurance pays for a general surgery case, but the case doesn't go well and they have to do another revision. 'The Swan,' as much as I love them, I'm not the big money pockets here. There are costs to be had.
Whether they be Swans or patients that have actually paid, I can't give them a lifelong subscription to plastic surgery. Nor any surgeon for that matter. That's just this distillation of reality. I think that part of them was thinking, oh my God, Dr. Haworth or Terry or whoever, I have a problem later on with the surgery. Well, there are three players here: me, you and Mother Nature.
Did the show go too far?
I think stylistic, taste-wise, that's debatable. I think it could be answered in many ways. Plastic surgery, I don't know [about] the word too far. It went far. It pushed boundaries.
I think where it went too far was that it showed these transformations almost as salvations. Like patients were getting saved, like oh my God, you're in a bad situation or you're unhappy at home and then you get this plastic surgery and everything is superficial about it.
The plastic surgery, and then compound that with the hair and the makeup, in a way, I hate to say it, but it's like the heterosexual version of a drag show, like 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' but with 'The Swans.' Everything was very over the top and it presented this fantasy life. Nowadays, in looking at everything retrospectively through the lens of 2026, I don't think it aged well.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Swan' surgeon disputes nude photo shoot claims: 'Exceedingly artistic'
