For the first time, Denise Richards has opened up about undergoing a full facelift, revealing this personal detail in an exclusive interview. Speaking with Elizabeth Siegel from Allure, the former Playboy model shared insights into her plastic surgery experience.
Richards, who is 55 and previously married to Charlie Sheen, had the procedure done eight months ago. Alongside her revelations, she also provided photos from the surgery, offering a glimpse into her transformation journey.
Reflecting on the experience, Richards expressed her disappointment that her ex-husband had leaked the news to the press before she had the chance to discuss it publicly herself. This breach of privacy added an unexpected layer of sadness to her story.
Discussing her decision, Richards stated, “I wanted to put things back up, where they were before.” She acknowledged the pressure of being in the public eye since her 20s, noting, “A facelift is not something that I could hide,” given that people are so familiar with her appearance.
Richards’ candidness about her surgery sheds light on the challenges faced by public figures when it comes to personal choices and the scrutiny that often accompanies them.
‘I was terrified. Being in the public eye since my 20s, people know what I look like – a facelift is not something that I could hide.’
Denise Richards has shared for the first time that she has undergone a full facelift. In an exclusive interview with Allure’s Elizabeth Siegel, the former Playboy model candidly discusses her plastic surgery journey. Above, on March 8
The 55-year-old ex-wife of Charlie Sheen said she had the complete process eight months ago, as she shared photos from the surgery
It’s not the first time she has had plastic surgery.
Richards had her breasts done at 19, and has had revision surgery for her implants since then.
But, she said, it is the first time she has had cosmetic surgery on her face.
‘It is night and day,’ Richards said of her before and after look. ‘It’s shocking, actually.’
After she had the facelift, she said other stars ‘were more comfortable telling me about theirs, but I’m not gonna name names.’
Still, she says, it can be great to know that ‘it’s not just serums and working out and lasers’ that make people like her look younger.
‘Going through my divorce, my ex [Aaron Phypers] disclosed that I’d had a facelift. He had a photographer show up outside an appointment where I had some microneedling on my scars,’ she claimed.
‘So [my ex] told someone that I had a facelift, and said it was botched, which is really ridiculous.
‘You know, I went back and forth about whether I was going to say anything about my facelift – um, he kind of let the cat out of the bag.
The star seen with a cut on her face in July 2025
Appearing on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen last March
Richards at Day Four of the 6th Canneseries International Festival in 2023
‘I think I could have gotten away with, ‘Oh, she looks so much better after her divorce.’ I think I probably would’ve been able to get away with it—or not, I don’t know.’
This comes after Richards was ordered to pay her estranged husband, Phypers, $5,000 a month in temporary spousal support.
The Wild Things star actress and her ex, 53, are amid divorce proceedings after separating last summer and during the latest court hearing related to the split, Judge Nicole Bershon ruled the movie star must pay Phypers the monthly amount and contribute $30,000 towards his legal fees.
The judge clarified that the attorney’s fees apply only to the divorce case and not to Phypers’s criminal defense.
He is facing four felony counts – two felony counts of injuring a spouse and two felony counts of dissuading a witness by force or threat – allegations he has denied.
The $30,000 in legal fees will be paid in three installments, with the first $10,000 due at the end of March.
Judge Bershon itemized the monthly $5,000 support payment as $2,000 for rent, $1,000 for a car, $1,000 for food and the remaining sum for miscellaneous expenses.
Phypers told the court on February 26 he had only $200 to his name and said the ruling would ‘certainly help’ but that he was taking matters ‘one day at a time.’
This comes after Richards was ordered to pay her estranged husband, Phypers, $5,000 a month in temporary spousal support
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Richards’s lawyer, Mark Gross, argued the financial burden of caring for her 14-year-old daughter, Eloise, who has a rare chromosomal disorder resulting in developmental delays, was ‘pretty extraordinary.’
He said: ‘Victims of abuse shouldn’t be required to support their abuser’ – referencing Denise being granted a permanent restraining order against Phypers in November 2025.
His lawyer responded that the Quantum 360 founder has not been convicted of the charges.
In January, Richards reflected on what she described on Instagram as a hard year of ‘letting go [and] truths being exposed’. She wrote: ‘As painful as it is, I’m so grateful for the clarity.’
Richards has two daughters, Sami and Lola, with Sheen.
Phypers was previously married to actress Nicollette Sheridan before their divorce in 2018.
