There’s a clip that often circulates on social media, of Chris Evans urging Victoria Beckham to step on the scales on live TV, to see if she’s lost her ‘baby weight’.
It was 1999, and the world was a very different place.
It was an age when lads mags reigned supreme, where X-Factor contestants were told to diet — and when The Circle of Shame was a recurring feature in magazines and newspapers.
For those who aren’t familiar, The Circle of Shame involved images of celebrities (usually female) with their perceived faults (cellulite, armpit sweat, belly rolls) highlighted in a circle.
In 2025 this type of overt bullying is obviously, thankfully, no longer okay – but you might have spotted a new flavour of body scrutiny on your FYP lately.
‘I think it’s possible she has a bit of weight gain’
In clips uploaded to TikTok and Instagram, plastic surgeons talk through the particular nips, tucks and treatments they believe a celebrity has had. Images of an A-lister’s face or body, taken years apart, are placed next to each other and compared.
‘I think she’s had Botox, an upper blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty, cheek filler, lip enhancement, a chin implant and a face and neck lift’, says one London-based surgeon, as a photo of Angelina Jolie’s face becomes annotated with surgical treatments.
There’s also a before and after of Angelina’s ears, with a circle (yes, a circle) around where her face lift scars are apparently visible.
Another surgeon in the US offers similar content. ‘I personally think she might have had a rhinoplasty…’ he says, discussing Kristen Davis’ face. ‘I think it’s possible she has a bit of weight gain… it could be a little bit of cheek volumisation.’
These videos are not meant to be offensive. Often, said expert will point out the high quality of the work that’s been done, commenting when a woman is beautiful or ‘ageing gracefully’.
These medics also make a living by performing the very treatments they’re discussing. It’s not about being salacious, but making people — and potential customers — aware of the surgeries available. Simply put, celebrities faces are used as adverts.
The reality though is that we can’t know for certain what a celebrity has, or has not, done to their face or body. And, you have to wonder how a woman might feel coming across a video where every inch of her own face is scrutinised publicly by a professional.
A-listers taking a stand
After Dr Jonny Betteridge, of JB Aesthetics in London, posted videos in which he speculated on the amount and type of surgeries Khloe Kardashian had undergone, she responded.
‘I take this as a great compliment,’ she wrote. ‘First off I think these photos are about 15 years apart, but here’s a list of things that I have done.’
The reality star then detailed her treatments, which included a nose job, laser hair removal, Botox, filler and collagen threads.
And in a later comment, she added: ‘Those photos are actually OVER 15 years ago.’
While influencers have been taking us with them on trips to Harley Street for years, for Hollywood A-listers, so publicly disclosing this information is a relatively new trend.
Ashley Stobart, who hosts the podcast Nip, Tuck, Not Giving A…, feels she’d be ‘irresponsible’ if she didn’t share the procedures she’s had, and is glad A-listers are finally sharing.
‘I was actually one of the first people to start opening up about my procedures on social media,’ she tells Metro.
‘I think if you’re in the public eye and you’re having surgery or treatments that change the way you look, there’s a responsibility to be transparent.’
For Ashley, who founded her own skincare range, The Cosmetic Consult, it’s about being honest about what it takes to look a certain way.
‘A lot of people are watching and looking up to you, and it’s important not to set unrealistic beauty standards,’ she says.
‘If you’re having work done that completely transforms your appearance, saying an ice bath and hot lemon water reversed 15 years of partying and alcohol abuse is just insulting people’s intelligence.’
Curated transparency
Others though question just how ‘authentic’ stars are being. It’s been pointed out that Khloe Kardashian may have left some procedures out.
Taking to TikTok, TV personality Olivia Atwood said: ‘If we’re going to talk about it, talk about it.
‘Talk about the BBLs, talk about the body contouring,’ she added. ‘I feel like that is missing.’
But for nurse prescriber and aesthetic trainer, Natalja Andrejeva, it’s understandable why some opt to give a more curated version of the truth.
‘Yes, many celebrities likely admit to what they can’t easily hide, and stay quiet about the more discreet enhancements,’ she tells Metro. ‘But it’s less about deception and more about navigating a very judgmental culture that pressures people to look perfect, while pretending it’s all natural.’
Natalja, founder of Face Code Aesthetic, continues: ‘For example, admitting to Botox to some might feel like admitting to insecurity or ageing.
‘There’s a societal double standard where people are expected to look flawless, but also be “natural” — as if achieving both is somehow realistic without help.
‘There’s a layer of stigma and image management at play.’
The male gaze
The overwhelming majority of cosmetic surgery patients are female. According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), there was a total of 27,462 surgical procedures performed in the UK 2024, of these, just 1,799 were for men.
And why are cosmetic treatments so common? Behind every scrutinised woman, there’s a beauty standard rooted in a male-ideal, that’s only achievable through surgery.
Speaking to Metro, Beth Holliday, professor of gender and culture at the University of Leeds explains: ‘Because men mostly own the means of image production — the media, film, fashion, and pornography, industries — they construct images of women that they find desirable, and these are then the images women are confronted with when they look for inspiration.’
So why then are women scrutinised when they do chose to amend their appearance to fit this perfect image?
Professor Meredith Jones, director of Brunel University’s Institute of Communities and Society, tells Metro that it’s all to do with The Masque of Femininity, a theory coined by 1920s psychoanalyst, Joan Riviere.
‘The theory states that women put on a feminine “mask”, whether that’s in the way they speak, dress or act,’ says Meredith. ‘The purpose is to appease men and say “I’m not a threat, I’m just a silly little girl”.
‘Research at the time showed the more powerful or ambitious a woman was, the more exaggerated this mask was. It’s a way to protect against the threat of male violence, actual or symbolic.
‘But if this mask slips — if we tell the world that actually, we’ve had surgery to look a certain way — this feminine fantasy is shattered and the patriarchy is at threat.’
A new circle of shame era?
Breaking down the stigma of plastic surgery, and acknowledging that no, nobody really looks this good, is a positive when it’s so easy to compare ourselves to the glitterati of Hollywood.
But there’s something dark about a man annotating a woman’s face for followers on TikTok, or for their own financial gain.
The Circle of Shame isn’t getting a like-for-like renaissance, but this plastic surgery guessing game is full of flaws.
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