Lifestyle

UNDER THE KNIFE

Food Network Star Reveals Graphic Details From Breast Implant Injury

“My boob started to fall in on itself.”

Roosa Rahkonen

Editorial Intern, The Looker

Published

Mar 11, 2026, 1:20 PM EDT

Updated

Mar 11, 2026, 1:23 PM EDT

Updated Mar 11, 2026, 1:23 PM EDT

Published Mar 11, 2026, 1:20 PM EDT

Food Network star Valerie Bertinelli opened up in graphic detail about the accident that led her to remove her breast implants.

In her new memoir, Getting Naked: The Quiet Work of Becoming Perfectly Imperfect, Bertinelli, 65, explained that her breasts were left uneven after multiple surgeries and the resulting complications. The Golden Globe winner originally received breast implants in the late 1980s, but was prompted to undergo explant surgery in 2024 after suffering a fall that yielded a disturbing injury.

“I sprinted down the stairs, tripped, and landed on my right boob. I heard a pop,” the One Day at a Time star wrote in her memoir. “I knew exactly what had happened.”

Bertinelli’s doctor confirmed her breast implant had ruptured, according to reporting by Page Six.

“Six weeks later, I had the surgery,” she wrote in Getting Naked. “My doctor showed me the old implants. They were like ostrich eggs, hard and crusted over. I couldn’t believe they had been in my body. I went home, bandaged and sore, with drains under my arms, uncomfortable but hopeful.”

Unfortunately, the recovery was anything but smooth.

“About a week later, my right breast took on shades of green, yellow, and blue. The next day, it started to swell and turned a dark purple. I felt myself getting dizzy. By nighttime, I was running a fever,” she wrote.

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“I stayed in bed, figuring that was best. Tylenol, and lots of water, and tea. When I got up, though, the pain was intense. My breast was throbbing and it kept getting worse,” she wrote. “I knew I had to see the doctor, but it was Saturday morning. I decided to wait until Monday.”

Despite her hopes for recovery, her symptoms worsened.

“By then, I was really sick. My breast was discolored, painful, and swollen. I was burning up. I had fluid leaking out of the sutures around my nipple,” she recalled.

Less than a month after her initial surgery, Bertinelli was back on the operating table.

“The second surgery involved removing the implant and the infection from the tissue surrounding the muscle. Recovery took more time. Then my boob started to fall in on itself. The doctor referred to it as cratering,” she wrote in the book.

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“The description was accurate. Another apt word was gross. Like, really gross. It looked like a horror movie—and it was. I had an open wound the size of a misshaped quarter and a hole more than an inch deep where my nipple used to be. My nipple, or what was left of it, was holding on to within a literal half inch of its life.”

Seven months after surgery, she underwent another procedure to restore her nipple and get an implant. The outcome, however, was disappointing.

“They are now two completely different sizes. The implant on the left is over the muscle, and my right side is sad and misshapen,” Bertinelli added.

“I’m lucky to have survived,” she wrote. “That weekend scared the piss out of me. After a lifetime of always thinking I needed to fix something about myself, this last go-round has been a doozie.”

Still, she plans to undergo a fourth surgery in order to “even things out once and for all.”

The unintended—and often frightening—side effects of body-enhancing procedures have been under increased scrutiny due to similarly high-profile cases.

In December, former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville revealed breast implants were the cause of her multiyear battle with debilitating and face-disfiguring symptoms. Grammy-winning rapper Cardi B, who has already undergone multiple surgeries to remove her silicone butt injections, announced in February that she planned on “taking some [more] out.”

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Roosa Rahkonen

Roosa Rahkonen

Editorial Intern, The Looker

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