The TV is full of reality shows including The Only Way Is Essex, Big Brother, Extreme Makeover and The Biggest Loser; many of which involve the contestants competing to win a prize.
In some programmes people compete to win money or lose weight but one show in America has defied all broadcasting norms.
It has created the very first show in which soon-to-be wives contest to win free cosmetic surgery makeovers.
Bridalplasty is a new American TV program which sells the likes of liposuction procedures and nose jobs to its participants. The fiancées compete against each other for breast enlargement, gastric bands or laser lipo surgery. Each week one ‘lucky’ bride will go under the knife to achieve on of her surgeries off her “wish list”.
Now we understand that even cheap lipo can be pricy but to compete in a show to get it done for free?
BRIDALPLASTY
The brides take part in various wedding themed challenges such as writing the wedding vows and planning the honeymoon, after which they can then vote each other out of the competition. The winning bride then goes under the knife and her groom does not see her extreme plastic surgery for the first time until he stands at the altar on the big day and lifts up her veil.
The network which the show is broadcast on said in a statement: “Every bride wants to look her best on her wedding day but for the women competing on E!’s new series, Bridalplasty, only perfection will do.”
“Bridalplasty brings together engaged women who are seeking complete image transformations before their big day — they want the dream wedding AND the dream body to go along with it.”
It added: “There have been shows about people having plastic surgery but in Bridalplasty it’s the prize — pushing the limits of medical ethics.”
CRITICISM
However, the programme has received criticism from all over the world, especially in the US. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons code of ethics states: “We’re technically prohibited from giving procedures away as a prize for a contest. It totally undermines the doctor-patient relationship.”
One professor of plastic surgery from America has even said that “the ethical and social implications of this [show] are frightening.”
And others argue that the message it sends to girls and women is that by achieving the ‘perfect’ appearance, everything will be better; that if you’re not beautiful enough on your wedding day you have to receive plastic surgery.
But who is to say that the husband-to-be will think of them in the same way afterwards or even like their new appearance?