‘Bachelorette’ Star, 40, Details Gruesome Plastic Surgery Accident
“I was panicking.”
Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
The Bachelorette star Kaitlyn Bristowe shared gruesome details of her post-plastic surgery accident.
On Monday, Bristowe, 40, talked about her 2024 eyelid surgery with Page Six Radio.
Bristowe became famous when she was chosen as the star of The Bachelorette in 2015 after placing third on Chris Soules’s season of The Bachelor earlier that year. At the end of her season of ABC’s ultra-popular dating series, she got engaged to Shawn Booth. However, the couple called it quits in 2018.
Bristowe, who now hosts the Off The Vine podcast, explained that she underwent a “very minimal” blepharoplasty in pursuit of “more symmetry” for her eyes.
Kaitlyn Bristowe chose Shawn Booth as her winner during season 11 of “The Bachelorette.”
Rick Rowell/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
During the procedure, her plastic surgeon removed a small amount of skin from her upper eyelid to make her eyes appear more lifted and awake.
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Once her healing progressed, her doctor removed her stitches.
Then, a terrifying accident set Bristowe’s progress backward.
“I had a few glasses of wine, and I went home,” she said, adding, “And every time I go home, I just dive face first into my dogs.”
Bristowe mimicked with her hands how one of her two golden retrievers, Pinot, scratched her eyelid in excitement.
“My eyelid was just, like, hanging open,” she said.
Kaitlyn Bristowe said she underwent eyelid surgery because her eyelids were drooped and she wanted more symmetry. Pictured here in November 2023 before her operation and in March 2025, after her procedure.
Taylor Hill/WireImage; Tammie Arroyo/Variety via Getty Images
“It was December 23, so right before Christmas. And the guy that I’m dating was with me, and he was like, ‘You should have seen yourself,’” Bristowe recalled.
The Dancing with the Stars alum—who won the 2020 season alongside professional dancer Artem Chigvintsev—said that despite not being a smoker, she lit up a cigarette that someone had left at her apartment.
“I was just smoking a cigarette, drinking a glass of wine, my eyelid hanging open, FaceTiming my doctor while she was at a Christmas party, being like ‘What do I do?’” Bristowe said.
Kaitlyn Bristowe won season 29 of “Dancing with the Stars” with her dance partner, Artem Chigvintsev.
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty Images
Bristowe recalled her plastic surgeon saying, “Lube it up. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She recalled panicking in the moment, but soon received new stitches on that eyelid.
In January 2025, Bristowe detailed the reasons that led her to undergo the eyelid surgery on Instagram.
At the time, she said she had “very hooded lids” in her eyes that had bothered her “for a very long time.”
Kaitlyn Bristowe was hoping to find love on reality TV, first on “The Bachelor” and then on “The Bachelorette.”
Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
“I tried to over-correct it by doing Botox, where I got too much bad Botox, and it actually drooped my lid even more,” she said.
Bristowe also shared that she had undergone other cosmetic enhancements, including dermal filler injections in her lips and cheeks.
Despite the healing process not being linear after the eyelid surgery, Bristowe also shared that she underwent a breast augmentation in 2025.
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