Danniella Westbrook says her chance of enjoying a huge television comeback was scuppered by a horrifying surgery experience.
The 49-year-old former EastEnders star has been something of an open book about the struggles she has faced as she has tried to reconstruct her nose - which collapsed due to years of cocaine abuse.
Danniella’s latest ordeal occurred last month when she flew to Turkey for further surgery on her face - only, she claims, for the surgeon to slap her while she was being operated on, and an assistant allegedly took her phone when she complained.
Now the newly single star says that the aborted surgery then led to her losing out on an appearance on hit Channel 4 show SAS: Who Dares Wins - denying her a major TV show comeback and a large paycheck.
Speaking on Natalie Bailey's Confidence Mastery podcast, Danniella said: "I was meant to do it last year but couldn't do it because of the surgery.
"I'm going to do it. The only thing that stands in my way is my mind, when I actually think about it. The only thing that does it is if me tells me I can't. Me. I don't want to fail."
Danniella continued: "Yeah, I'm going to go and do that. I'm petrified.
"It's not even about the physical stuff. My son said to me, 'How are you going to stand there with somebody this close to you, shouting in your face and say my son doesn't speak like that and I gave birth to him?'
"He said, 'You have to be quiet. You're not going to be able to do that'. But I am. I've 50 this year. I need to do something.
"I've done all the physical ones like Dancing On Ice but I need to do this."
Channel 4 recently axed the civilian version of SAS: Who Dares Wins - but the celebrity version is due to continue, meaning Danniella is still in with a chance of featuring on the show.
She has recently opened up about the agonising surgeries she has undergone in an effort to save her face from collapsing.
Due to her past addiction battles, Danniella has been unable to take painkillers post-surgery - and even has to go under the knife without anesthetic.
She endured further pain last month during a traumatising procedure when the surgeon allegedly lashed out at her mid-surgery.
Danniella previously told The Sun that she realises she will now have to stump up a large amount of surgery to see a specialist in the UK instead.
She explained: "I was doing it in Liverpool with a professor there. I should have stayed with him but a friend convinced me to go to Turkey. It's my own stupid fault.
"I'm going back to him though but I'm gonna pay for it this time. I'd been quoted £500,000 before, I don't care what it is.
"If I don't have it done, the palate in the back of my mouth will collapse and I'll suffocate to death.
"When I went to Turkey, I could have died. I could have died if someone had just botched it any further. I'm not the youngest person in the world and I haven't been the wellest."
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