Priyanka Chopra gets candid about botched early 2000s surgery which led to ‘Plastic Chopra’ nickname

Priyanka Chopra has spoken out about the botched facial surgery in the early 2000s that led to her being dubbed “Plastic Chopra.”

The 40-year-old actress – who attended the Met Gala with husband Nick Jonas on Monday – spoke candidly about having a polyp removed from her nasal cavity during a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Howard Stern Show.

She explained, “This thing happens, and my face looks completely different, and I went into a deep, deep depression.”

Chopra said she was fired from three different film projects and even feared the botched surgery would end her career prematurely.

At the time, she was hesitant to go under the knife, but it was her late father Ashok – who happened to be a doctor himself – who persuaded her to have corrective surgery.

Before and after: Priyanka is seen in London in November 2000 on the left; on the right in the photo last week in Los Angeles

She explained, “I was terrified of that, but he said, ‘I’ll be in the room with you.’

“He held my hands through it and helped me rebuild my confidence.”

As for regaining her confidence on the big screen, Chopra credited Bollywood director Anil Sharma for helping her get back in front of the camera for sure.

She explained, “I was supposed to play this lead role, and I got shifted to a supporting character. That filmmaker was very nice.

He, while the tide was against me, said, “It will be a small part, but give it all.” And I did.’

Chopra had gone into more detail about the botched surgery and its aftermath in her autobiography – titled Unfinished – which was released in February 2021.

At the time, she said it led some haters to call the former beauty pageant queen “Plastic Chopra.”

She was a young adult when she noticed a benign growth in her nasal cavity that needed to be surgically removed.

She (pictured in 2000) explained, “This thing happens, and my face looks completely different, and I went into a deep, deep depression.”

Sad: Chopra said she was fired from three different film projects and even feared the botched surgery would end her career prematurely; she can be seen at the Miss World final in London in November 2000

‘He held my hands through it and helped me regain my confidence’: At the time, she was hesitant to go under the knife, but it was her late father Ashok – who happened to be a doctor himself – who persuaded her to get a corrective treatment to undergo surgery; they are seen together in March 2010

Fortunately, a polypectomy sounded like a fairly routine procedure. Unfortunately not,” she wrote in her book.

The surgeon “accidentally shaved the bridge of my nose and the bridge collapsed.” And the star, who had already become famous in her native India for her looks, was left “shocked”.

“My original nose was gone,” Priyanka said. My face looked very different. I wasn’t myself.’

The bad surgery lost her job – she says in the book that she was fired from two movies.

“All the talk about body parts and skin color made me feel devalued and unseen and uncertain about my future,” the Baywatch star said.

“After going through the aftermath of a supposedly simple polyp removal, I knew I wasn’t willing to follow the course he set out for me, even though, as the highly successful expert, he was right,” she added.

“… My difference is my strength. If I looked like other ‘classically beautiful’ girls, I wouldn’t stand out, and more importantly, I wouldn’t be myself.’

Priyanka has had “several corrective surgeries” and has now “got used to this face.”

Support System: She’s pictured with husband Nick Jonas at the Met Gala on Monday

Chopra had gone into more detail about the botched surgery and its aftermath in her autobiography – titled Unfinished – which was released in February 2021, as she said her name was ‘Plastic Chopra’.

“When I look in the mirror now, I’m no longer surprised; I’ve made peace with this slightly different me… I’m just like everyone else: I look at myself in the mirror and think I might lose some weight; I think maybe I could train a little more. But I am also satisfied. This is my face. This is my body. I may have flaws, but I am me,” she added.

And at the time, the red carpet favorite refused to explain what happened.

‘I dared to give an explanation for the clearly different nose, but then I chose a course that I have followed all those years. I decided there was a line I would draw in my life,” wrote boy bander Nick Jonas’s wife.

She felt she owed no one an explanation.

“I’m an entertainer,” she began. “That’s what I signed up for, and that’s what I like to do. I’ll say my lines, dance my dance, hit my target. I’ll do my best to make you laugh, and I’ll do my best to make you cry, but just because I’m a public person doesn’t mean everything about my life has to be public knowledge. I get to choose what I share and when I share it.’

Chopra is currently starring alongside Richard Madden in the spy thriller television series Citadel, currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.