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- In the new season of Botched, we see Dr Dubrow and Dr Nassif take on patients that they would never have even considered in season one.
- According to Dr Dubrow the most requested celebrity feature is Kim Kardashian's buttocks - but it's also the most risky.
- Botched season 6 starts Mondays at 20:00 on E! (DStv Channel 124).
When plastic surgery goes horribly wrong, botched victims turn to doctors, Terry Dubrow and Paul Nassif for help.
From black market "cement" face injectables to a model who had breast implants inserted in her buttocks - these surgeons take on the cases that no other doctors are willing to even consider.
Channel24 spoke to Botched surgeon Dr Terry Dubrow from California about why the transformation reality show is so successful, and found out what the most requested celebrity feature is - which also happens to be the most fatal!
Brand new episodes of Botched, start Mondays at 20:00 on E! (DStv Channel 124).
Fans of the show know that, not only is Dr Dubrow an excellent surgeon, but his charismatic presence radiates from the screen. And speaking to him over the phone from Cape Town, he is every bit as warm and engaging as he appears on TV.
After I introduce myself, he immediately responds by saying: "I can't wait to visit South Africa one day, I love the accent. It's my favourite accent."
Despite the coronavirus pandemic temporarily shutting doors on his practice and scheduled Botched surgeries, he says: "We seem to be on the other side, and things are looking up."
And while not in the office, it has given Dr Dubrow time to catch up on his current Netflix favourites Love is Blind and Tiger King.
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"It's much better than what it was two months ago. The governor in California has been appropriately strict, but things are slowly opening up, and we are able to have surgeries and eat out again, while still taking precautions. It put a temporary pause on things, but now things are full steam ahead."
Fans of the show know that Dr Dubrow and Dr Nassif enjoy ragging on each other, which adds to the show's appeal. And although I only have one half of the surgery duo on the line, Dr Dubrow can't hold back on an opportunity to crack a joke at Dr Nassif's expense.
When asked what makes the show, now in its sixth season, such a success he laughs and replies: "I think it's me. You could replace Paul with a cardboard box, and no one would really notice."
After we have a giggle, he says: "I think it is one of those shows that has the perfect sauce. It has the right combination of authenticity because with some reality shows you don't know if they're just putting on a show or not, but you know on Botched that these patients have really severe problems, and are in a hopeless situation. There are real risks and it's no joke."
"When we put these patients are under anaesthesia, everybody knows that there is a chance that something can go horribly wrong. It has high-risk stakes. And of course, there is the fun relationship between Paul and me. The show has those factors that are rare, it's interesting, fun and entertaining and it has a lot of heart," he adds.
Through the years, we've seen Dr Dubrow and Dr Nassif take on the most extreme plastic surgery nightmares, which have left patients with crippling low self-esteem.
"The show, at its core, is about trying to help people that have problems that no one has been able to solve because the risk is too high," Dr Dubrow explains.
But being able to help people, and give them their lives back, is the reason he says that he will be doing Botched until he's "in the grave."
"The more you do these difficult cases, the more you want to apply them to patients with hopeless problems. It is so appealing; satisfying and fulfilling," he says.
In the new season, we see Dr Dubrow and Dr Nassif take on patients that they would never have even considered in season one, Dr Dubrow explains.
"After doing it for six seasons, we decided to take on patients that we didn't think were necessarily 'fixable'. And that is what makes this season so unique."
In season six we'll be seeing patients that they had to "botch" on purpose before "unbotching" with subsequent surgeries. "We were doing surgeries that were more difficult with a more uncertain outcome. This season we had a lot more complications," he elaborates further.
Botched takes viewers from the consultation room to the operating theatre, but there are scenarios where he would request for the cameras to stop rolling - and not just if he wets his pant, he laughs.
"If there is going to be a lot of bleeding and we have to get control of it. We occasionally turn off the cameras if there is an emergency and not because we don't want to film the crisis, but because we don't want to be distracted at all. If there is a real emergency it is not the time to be filming, and it's only essential staff in the theatre."
About the most requested celebrity feature, the answer is as one would expect in 2020: The Kardashians.
"The Kardashians have very ample rear ends, and a lot of people want their rear ends. It has become very popular to have fat transferred from other parts of your bodies to buttocks. This is called a Brazilian butt lift. Then it became lip fillers when Kylie admitted to having fillers at 17. The Kardashians really moved the Botched surgery needle," he says.
But according to Dr Dubrow, the scary truth is that although the Brazilian butt lift is the fastest-growing procedure, it's also the most fatal.
"When you take fat from one part of the body and inject it in the buttock, it can get into the large veins in the buttock, it can travel to the heart and into your lungs, and be fatal."
But recently requests have turned to social media filters. "People just want to look like better versions of themselves. They want to look as good in real life as the images that they are portraying on social media."
Brand new episodes of Botched start Mondays at 20:00 on E! (DStv Channel 124).
