Nicki Chapman has revealed she has had a non-surgical neck lift to get rid of her “loose jowls” and double chin.
The former Pop Idol judge, who now presents Escape to the Country and is a regular on BBC Radio 2, became so self-conscious of her looks in recent years that she would avoid having her picture taken. But after “hitting rock bottom” at the end of last year, the 56-year-old turned to Dr Judy Todd, whose clients include Strictly Come Dancing judge Shirley Ballas and Andy Murray's mum Judy, for help.
Instead of going under the knife, which Nicki said she didn’t have time to do as working in TV and radio she “needed to be available all the time”, the broadcaster decided to have a series of high-tech facial treatments administered over a period of time. Now eight months and five sessions later – roughly one every two months – Nicki claims to “feel like a new woman” and is “thrilled with the results”, saying the treatments were more effective than she ever hoped.
“We’re all critical of something in our bodies, and for me it was the skin under my jawline. I hated my neck being photographed before this,” Nicki told new! magazine. “Looking at the picture of myself at the beginning, I can’t believe how jowly I was. You can really see the lines on my neck as well.
“But looking at the pictures of me now, you can really see a difference. My jawline, neck and chest have changed far more than I could ever have hoped.... I’m a 56-year-old woman so I’m never going to look 25... but it is a marked improvement.”
Nicki Chapman says goodbye to Radio 2 listeners but issues statement on futureNicki, who is married to music executive Dave Shackleton, underwent four treatments of Morpheus8 micro-needling to rejuvenate the skin and boost collagen, which cost £875 each. She then had a £1,500 medium strength NeoGen treatment to tighten the loose skin around the neck and jawline. She also took natural G Herbal SKIN supplements to boost nutrients and help the skin repair.
Admitting she was “super nervous” of having anything done to her face after having surgery to remove a non-malignant golf ball sized tumour in her brain in 2019, Nicki said: “But if you have a good doctor like Dr Judy, there’s really nothing to worry about. I’m quite a wimp when it comes to pain but the numbing cream she puts on 45 minutes before makes such a difference. You hardly feel anything.”
Following the treatments, Nicki said her skin was red for about an hour afterwards but, by the next day, it had completely gone. As the procedure was done in sessions, it meant she didn’t have to take any time off work either.
Although she was given the all-clear in 2019, Nicki exclusively told the Mirror she lives in fear of the tumour in her brain returning and knows how lucky she is “because it doesn’t always work like that for many people”
Recalling the moment she found out the tumour had gone, she said: “I was filming Escape to the Country and standing in a field of pigs when my consultant phoned me. He told me my brain tumour had gone. I said to him, ‘Is that usual?’ And he said, ‘Yes, but it’s quite rare.’ I immediately phoned my husband Dave and we were both in tears. It was such a huge relief to us both.” But while Nicki admits it was “a lovely moment”, she isn’t complacent and is still dealing with the trauma on a daily basis. She added: “I still live with the fear, but I have put it into my filing cabinet – and I don’t have to open it every day.”