Charlotte Crosby’s TV Ordeal Shows It’s Time To Stop Face-Shaming

As a new documentary series, Celebrities: What Happened To Your Face?, aired on TV this month, Charlotte Crosby watched in horror as a panel of ‘experts’ dissected Madonna’s face in painful detail.

She knew she was going to be in Madonna’s shoes the week after. In March 2020, Charlotte’s management team found out that Channel 5 and Crackit Productions had commissioned a series that was going to publicly scrutinise her appearance. Her agent warned the broadcasters that this might be detrimental to Charlotte’s mental health, following a public battle with her appearance and self-confidence during her 10 years of reality-TV fame. They ignored her.

As the night of her own episode grew closer, Charlotte rationalised it by telling herself she deserved the scrutiny because She had a nose job in 2015 and has had facial fillers, plus corrective surgery on her breasts for a condition called symmastia. ‘All week I told myself, “It’s fine. I’ve had my lips done. I’ve done this to myself. I deserve this.” But I had so much anxiety, I didn’t watch it. I received texts while it was on saying, “This is vile, I’m livid for you,” and that made me feel worse.'

Charlotte felt that what the ‘experts’ said was appalling. ‘They dissected my “plastic face” with disgust, discussed my fluctuating weight with images and then decided to flash up the worst troll comments from the past six years.’ She put out a statement condemning Channel 5 and Crackit Productions for apparently validating trolling by shaming her appearance on a mainstream platform. Because, while we may have accepted that body-shaming is not OK, it seems we’re yet to come to that conclusion with face-shaming – in particular, many seem to think that someone being in the public eye, and/or choosing to undergo treatments makes them fair game.

We saw it when Khloé Kardashian posted a bikini photo on Instagramthat showed her in less-than-typically-glam mode – sparking much speculation as to what treatments she might have had done and how ‘successful’ they’d been.

Why can we recognise the pain caused by body-shaming celebrities – not just to themselves, but people witnessing it – and yet ignore the damage of face-shaming? The targets are often people who have been driven to cosmetic surgery because of criticism of their looks, only to face more for choosing to react to it. At a time when procedures are more accessible than ever, and the pressure to appear perfect online is only escalating, we need to stop judging and start understanding.

Fortunately, the tide appears to be turning. The documentary about Charlotte received more than 7,000 complaints; Channel 5 has apologised ‘for any upset caused’ and said in a statement: ‘While we acknowledge that the programme was Ofcom compliant, we have taken on-board Charlotte’s feedback and removed the episode from our streaming platform My5.’ They have since removed the entire show.

Charlotte told Grazia, ‘I’ve developed coping mechanisms for dealing with online trolls but I was shocked to the core and devastated that something so cruel and personal could be on television. Given the thousands of Ofcom complaints, it’s comforting to see so many others felt the same. The support I’ve received has been so overwhelming and really positive – it has given me so much strength. I’m looking forward to seeing the changes Channel 5 makes with regards to its broadcasting choices and I really do hope this sets a precedent for change and a kinder approach all round.