Olivia Attwood Dack first burst onto the scene in a whirlwind of memeable moments in 2017, when she starred in the third series of Love Island. After leaving the villa that propelled her fame, Olivia continued down the TV path to front documentaries. Olivia Attwood: Getting Filthy Rich, which explored the world of online sex work, won the presenter, 32, an abundance of praise, and after chatting to Grazia, we're confident her new series, Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection will have the same outcome...
What procedures have you had in the past and what have you had done most recently?
I've had two breast augmentations, one was a revision and a reduction to correct the mistakes I made with the first one. And then it's really just injectables and skin care - I do lasers, I do Profhilo and all that jazz.
Have you had filler removed?
I have had my lip filler dissolved to an extent because it was definitely too big at one point. I think that goes back to a theme that we see a lot in this show about not doing things for fashion. I think there was a trend a couple of years ago to have the really overfilled lips, which I think I bought into. So yes, I've dissolved a lot of lip filler over the last couple of years, but I'm not going to say I haven't got any in, because there is still some in there. I had my boobs done when I was around 20 or 21, but I didn't do anything on my face until I was about 26 and that's when I had lip filler for the first time, and that was it. And then a few years after that, I started doing Botox.
What has your relationship been like with body confidence over the years?
I think I've always been fairly confident with the way that I look. I come from a modelling and pageant background, so I'm quite used to being scrutinised. It was something that my mum always taught me - ‘It's not personal’. If someone's booking a job and you don't look right, it's not because you're ugly or there's something wrong with you, you're just not right for that job. So I've always had quite a detached relationship with that. Interestingly though, when I was at school, I used to be called chicken legs and you know at the time you think, ‘Oh I wish my legs weren't so skinny’, but now obviously as a 30-year-old woman it's one of the things that I like about myself.
What was the most shocking thing you learned in making this documentary?
How dangerous and unregulated the aesthetics industry is in the UK. Basically anyone can inject filler or Botox into someone without a medical licence and there are a lot of horror stories and I think that steps need to be taken to get control of the industry.
The documentary definitely changed the way I think about surgery. Watching people have surgery done so close to you like that is very eye-opening and I think it made me realise what an incredible toll it is on the body. When it's something you're having done yourself you kind of disconnect from it, you're put to sleep, you don't know too much about what's going on, but actually watching a breast augmentation, things like that in the flesh, made me realise what a big undertaking it is.
Do you think that beauty standards are becoming more and more impossible?
I think there is a massive pressure on women to look perfect, although that is an impossible task, because I think the goalposts to what is perfect are always moving. As we found here in making these films, everyone's definition of perfect is different, so trying to chase perfection, or perfection in the eyes of someone else is always a fruitless task because not everyone is going to think the same. You have to look the way you will look for yourself, as cliche as that sounds.
Is that pressure to look perfect exacerbated by social media, as well as editing and filters?
We’re living in a very image-based world more than we ever have done, with social media being something a lot of us spend a huge amount of our day looking at with the filters and the editing. But I think it's just a different version of influence, when I was younger I was influenced by what I saw in the magazines and what I saw on television and I think this isn't going to change. Social media isn't going anywhere, some influencers will always edit their photos, so I think it’s more about education. It’s about teaching young people that what they see on the internet isn't reality. Because I think expecting it to go away or to change is unrealistic. So I think it’s important to educate young people to understand that what they're seeing is not always real and how to navigate what they are consuming in a healthy way.
There is a massive pressure on women to look perfect.
What about the pressure of being a woman in the public eye, do you think it’s understandable that celebrities have tweakments and cosmetic surgery because of criticism they receive?
The commentary from the court of human opinion is constant and people always have things to say. You're always trying to make other people happy and make other people think you look good, which could obviously lead you down a really bad road.
What did you think about the Kardashians backtracking about the impossible beauty standards they have set?
A lot of people would say that it’s a little too late. I think especially in the case of Kylie, people see that she's made billions of dollars by selling lip kits and insinuating that her lips were achieved by this lip liner and lipstick. And they’ve all denied surgery for years, even though it’s quite clear that they’ve all had bits of work done here and there. I think it can be seen as quite misleading to younger people who might be unaware of how they’re achieving a certain look, which isn't attainable naturally. So although it feels a little late, I’m still glad that they're starting to open up these conversations to help with young women’s mindsets.
Olivia Attwood: The Price of Perfection is available to stream on ITVX from Thursday 18th January.