‘Real Housewives’ Star Shares Shock Diagnosis for Facial Disfigurement
Brandi Glanville stated earlier that she had spent $200,000 seeking answers about her mysterious ailment.
Santiago Felipe/Getty Images;X/Brandi Glanville
A Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star revealed her shocking diagnosis three years after her mystery facial disfigurement turned her life upside down.
Brandi Glanville, 53, experienced facial paralysis in 2024 and subsequently saw 21 doctors and spent $200,000 to find answers.
On Thursday, the former Bravo star, who has also competed on shows including Celebrity Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother, said she had received a new diagnosis.
On her podcast, Brandi Glanville Unfiltered, Glanville joked to her co-host, James Maas, that the video of their podcast recording would require a filter before publishing, “because mama found out that I have a benign tumor in one of my lymph nodes in my face.”
The mother of two, who shares her sons with her ex-husband, actor Eddie Cibrian, hoped that the non-cancerous tumor diagnosis could be the answer to her lingering health issues.
“That could be why the fluid is going around my face and why it’s having a hard time,” she explained, adding, “like I can wear makeup for like 15 minutes and then I have to take it off.”
Brandi Glanville shares her two sons with actor Eddie Cibrian. The couple was married from 2001 to 2010. Pictured here in Beverly Hills in 1998.
Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Glanville received the diagnosis after visiting a dermatologist who specializes in cancer to ask about a lump on her neck.
She recalled showing the lump to other doctors prior, and it being dismissed as scar tissue. “I’m like, from what? I haven’t had like a facelift yet,” she said.
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In December, Glanville described her condition as “hell” and said it had made her hide in her house.
Brandi Glanville has documented her facial disfigurement on social media since 2024.
Instagram/Brandi Glanville
Now, the former model said she looks “so bad,” but is looking forward to getting back to her usual beauty routine.
“It’s been a long three years, and I just want to put a ton of makeup on again, get my hair extended. I want to have like a glow up,” she said.
Brandi Glanville was a full-time cast member of ”The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” from 2012 to 2015. Pictured here with Yolanda Foster, Lisa Vanderpump, Taylor Armstrong, and Kyle Richards in New York City in 2013.
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Glanville recalled undergoing multiple lab tests before learning about her benign tumor.
“I’m talking tens of thousands of dollars in labs. Why would this lab just now show this?” she asked. “I can tell you that this lump has always been here. That’s why I’m always massaging it.”
Brandi Glanville at the grand opening of Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Clinic West Hollywood in April 2024.
Paul Archuleta/Paul Archuleta/Getty Images
Glanville first revealed her health struggles by posting a selfie on X in December 2024. She has since been documenting her journey online.
In February, she underwent a breast explant surgery after learning one of her implants had ruptured and the silicone had spread into her body.
Glanville said she felt better immediately after and hoped the surgery was the answer to her issues—although she said she still had “really hard lumps” in her neck.
Brandi Glanville competed on shows like ”Celebrity Apprentice,” ”Celebrity Big Brother,” and ”Traitors.” Pictured here at a press conference in 2015.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters
Under her Instagram post about her new diagnosis, many fans suspected she had been dismissed by doctors for so long because she is a woman.
Some wondered whether her facial fillers were related to her current issues.
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