When Beth Harris joined the Foxreality show "The Swan," she said she struggled with her self-esteem and craved a makeover after the birth of her son.
After going under the knife for nearly 10 cosmetic surgeriesand becoming a finalist on the first season, she says she left with more insecurities than she started with − and no realistic way to address them. When her boob job became asymmetrical, she tells USA TODAY she couldn't afford to fix it and began wearing a prosthetic implant.
"The quote they gave me for fixing my boobs was almost $40,000," Harris says. "All you can do is laugh at that point. Like, is this a joke?"'
Harris is among the women featured in Hulu's "The Swan: Behind the Mirror"(streaming now), directed by Erin Lee Carr, who have
recounted their stories from the early 2000s reality show. "The Swan," which ran for two seasons, wasn't looking for women who wanted minor tweaks, but rather full transformations with laundry lists of cosmetic procedures conducted by surgeons Dr. Randal Haworth and Dr. Terry Dubrow. The show capitalized on jaw-dropping reveals with controversial enhancements, exhaustive workout and dieting routines, and a cutthroat beauty pageant.
"The show was an extreme version of what America wanted at the time, which is to look like Pamela Anderson," Carr tells USA TODAY. "And when you looked at the women post-surgery in totality, even though they were done by different surgeons, there was a sameness, and then we're experiencing that same sameness with bigger lips, the cheekbones, flat stomach, bigger breasts."
The Fox reality series, touted as a show designed to turn "ugly ducklings" into "swans," has since left emotional and physical scars on the women it spotlighted and even larger medical bills. Despite the fallout, many contestants say they would do it all again.
Dr. Dubrow and Dr. Haworth did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment by publication date.
Behind the scenes bombshells from 'The Swan'
The women followed strict protocols, outlined in "The Swan" program rules, including working out six times a week, consenting to separation from family and friends, and the removal of all and any reflective surfaces from their rooms.
By the end of the months-long makeover and bootcamp, the women finally saw themselves in a mirror, for a big reveal, dressed in a cinched ball gown and caked with makeup. If the Swan team did not get the emotional reaction they anticipated, the women did it again. Contestant Tawnya Perrotta had to redo her reaction at least four times, she said in the documentary, alleging that creator Nely Galan "kept saying she wanted more crying, more screaming."
Galan declined USA TODAY's request for comment.
The show increased the antics in Season 2. In an effort to garner waterworks, producers asked intrusive questions from one contestant's nose cancer diagnosis to another contestant's struggle with infertility. Kari Bravata entered the show alone but as part of a twist, producers secretly invited her sister Gina Bravata. If Gina Bravata broke her contract, she would be responsible for $5 million in damages along with attorney fees.
"The excitement very quickly got crushed into fear," Kari Bravata tells USA TODAY.
"I was angry because they would throw my sister in my face a lot and they liked the reaction out of me, 'So how does it feel knowing you're going to be pretty and your sister's not?'" she adds. "It was harsh."
In another moment, the women were invited to a garage and asked to pose for a nude photo shoot. Despite Kari Bravata's pushback, she says, she felt like she didn't have a say."We were told to go change, take everything off and just put a robe on and … when it was clear, it was take everything off," she says. "Immediately tears were in my eyes. I said, 'No, I don't want to do this.'"
The images were taken as part of a coffee table book that was never released, Dr. Haworth clarified in the documentary, calling it an "art project."
What happened to the women after their beauty makeovers?
When it came to cosmetic procedures, the decisions rested in "The Swan's" team of producers and surgeons. Cindy Ingle, a finalist in the first season, said she raised concern to Dr. Haworth about an asymmetrical implant while on the show, claiming that "he chose not to do anything," due to time constraints.
"That did bother me for a really long time, but I just sort of dealt with it," she says to USA TODAY.
Later, Ingle discovered one of her breast implants had a leak, while the other had deflated in size. Fortunately, she said, her surgery was still "under warranty" but she still had to pay a meager $10,000 for the surgeon fee, hospital care and anesthesia. Despite needing follow-up procedures, Ingle maintains she's happy with the outcome and would do it again.
"I don't think there's a woman that would turn down that opportunity if given it," she says.
Harris, however, has had second thoughts. After leaving displeased with her breast augmentation, she had a post-show operation at Dr. Dubrow's office, which she tells USA TODAY only made her situation worse: "Originally it was way up almost to my collarbone, and then it dropped way lower than the other side."
Then in 2020, her left breast implant ruptured, creating a deflated appearance. After returning to Dr. Dubrow's office for help, she says they "refused to find my records" and "refused to let me talk to Dubrow."
With a $40,000 price tag to fix the issues, Harris says the procedure is "now on the back burner" as she saves up money to be able to afford it.
Former Army soldier Kristi Garza was another contestant on "The Swan." She received DaVinci Veneers on the show and has spent thousands on dental work, including having six teeth pulled that rotted underneath her crowns and veneers. As she revisited the reality series more than two decades later, she admits to USA TODAY she entered the show with the wrong expectations: to receive external validation.
"I always tell people, you need to stop and think about whose pockets are getting lined because you hate yourself," Garza says.
Before the credits roll in "The Swan: Behind the Mirror," the women celebrated the long-lasting friendship they formed with glasses of champagne and tiaras. And Garza maintains a lighthearted attitude, toasting to "tits, teeth and trauma."
"I call myself the Paleolithic, perimenopausal princess because some days I look like a vagabond, you know?" Garza says. "And that's okay too. It no longer dictates how I feel about myself."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Swan' contestants reveal lasting scars of reality TV’s extreme makeover
