NEED TO KNOW
Melissa Gilbert revealed that moving to Michigan kickstarted a self-discovery journey that led to her getting her breast implants permanently removed
Before moving, the Little House on the Prairie was shocked to see how she looked in a paparazzi photo and was inspired to “figure out” who she was without cosmetic treatments
Removing her breast implants led to the actress wearing more comfortable clothes and letting her hair go gray
Melissa Gilbert left Hollywood after marrying her husband, Tim Busfield, in 2013. In the time since, the Little House on the Prairie actress has stopped getting cosmetic work done, and even got her breast implants removed so she can be “strong and healthy.”
The actress, 61, appeared on the Tuesday, July 29, episode of the I Choose Me podcast with Jennie Garth and opened up about her marriage leading her down a path of self-discovery.
Gilbert explained that she was excited to leave Los Angeles after meeting Busfield, who “had moved back to his home state of Michigan.” Her excitement, she recalled, stemmed from her being able to let go of the pressures related to her physical appearance.
“I said, ‘That’s great. Please get me out of L.A. I have to go somewhere I can age,'” she joked.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
Melissa Gilbert attends the “Busfiled/Gilbert” photocall on June 20, 2023.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The move to the Midwest was an “amazing” experience for Gilbert.
“It was so different and peaceful,” she told Garth. “It was a really great kind of honeymoon period, but it was also a really great time for me to land into my own skin.”
Before getting married and moving to Michigan, the Diary of Anne Frank star noted that she was “at peak filler, Botox, big boobs.” But after seeing a paparazzi photo of herself, she began having second thoughts about her appearance.
“It startled me and I thought, ‘Oh my God, that’s not who I am or who I wanted to be.’ I made a decision to back off all of that to see what was underneath it and to figure out who I was,” she explained. “And then I met Tim a while after that and I started expressing this to him and he was all for it.”
Bob Riha, Jr./Getty
Actress Melissa Gilbert at the 55th Annual Emmy Awards in 2003.
She continued, “I went to him and I said, ‘I really wanna take out my breast implants permanently…I don’t want them anymore.” Her husband was “all for it.”
Gilbert’s decision stemmed from her not wanting to “make a decision in my 80s to have them replaced” and wanting “my body back to what it was.” She added, “I want to feel strong and healthy as I age now.”
https://people-app.onelink.me/HNIa/kz7l4cuf
The breast implant decision led her to make several other positive changes in her life pertaining to her appearance. “I stopped coloring my hair,” Gilbert said. “And then I stopped dressing for other people and dressing for myself.”
Gilbert’s comments about her breast implants come amid celebrities being more transparent about their cosmetic procedures.
Pascal Le Segretain/Getty
Melissa Gilbert attends the “Nymphes D’Or – Golden Nymphs” Nominees Party on June 19, 2023.
Sami Sheen, daughter of Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen, opened up about wanting her breast implants removed in June due to her belief that she has breast implant illness. Kylie Jenner is one of the biggest celebrities who has been transparent about her plastic surgery recently. At the beginning of the summer, she responded to a fan on TikTok who requested the details of her breast augmentation.
Jenner wrote in the comments section of the TikToker’s post, “445 cc, moderate profile, half under the muscle!!!!! Silicone!!!” She even name-dropped Beverly Hills, Calif.-based plastic surgeon Dr. Garth Fisher, who performed the procedure on her, and concluded the post by adding, “Hope this helps lol.”
Read the original article on People
