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WHERE'S YOUR HEAD AT?

TV Host Needs Plastic Surgery for Blood-Spurting Head Wound

The podcaster said the aftermath of her wound “looked like a crime scene.”

Cailey PetschIntern

PublishedApr 21, 2026, 6:27 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 21, 2026, 6:28 PM EDT

Updated Apr 21, 2026, 6:28 PM EDTPublished Apr 21, 2026, 6:27 PM EDT

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Australian television host and podcaster Carrie Bickmore’s smiling photos from a family vacation to Sri Lanka hid a big secret: Beneath her floppy sunhats was a head injury so severe that she now needs plastic surgery to fix it.

Bickmore, 45, revealed graphic photos of the bloody wound and shared the story behind it on her Instagram shortly after returning from the trip.

“Walked into the corner of a wall over the break,” she wrote in the caption of her post. “Looked like a crime scene. Blood spurting from my head. Got it glued back together so I could go on holiday with my family the next day.”

“Turns out I have hit a nerve,” Bickmore, who hosted Australian talk show The Project for 13 years, wrote. She added that she is “healing terribly” and still in pain, particularly after a “lady [dropped] her carry-on suitcase on my head.”

In the April 20 podcast episode of Carrie and Tommy, Bickmore shared the story behind her dramatic injury.

Bickmore, who said she sometimes experiences dizziness after waking up, recounted how she smacked her head into the corner of a wall in her home during a late-night trip to the bathroom.

“I was just walking to get water, and I’ve done myself a doozy,” she told listeners. “It’s just a normal corner. There was nothing special about the corner.”

The result was gory and instantaneous: “I felt it spurting out, I was catching it with my hand, and it dripped all down my eye,” she said, according to People.

Paramedics arrived after the accident and wrapped her head, advising Bickmore to return to bed and have the slit glued back together in the morning.

Despite its gushing nature, the Cleveland Clinic refers to this type of laceration as a closed head injury, classified as a wound that does not break through the skull.

For the entire 10-day trip, Bickmore was unable to swim, get wet, or even wash her hair.

After returning home to Australia, Bickmore, who admits this was the third time she hit her head in a short time frame, was informed that the opening was so deep that the glue used by the medics had been wholly ineffective.

Fans flocked to her Instagram comments, concerned for her health and wishing her a swift recovery.

“Hope you recover soon,” one fan said, while Australian singer and actress Sophie Monk wrote, “Holy moly. I hope you’re ok. Sending lots of cuddles 😍.”

Others left humorous notes, with one of the top-rated comments calling her “Carrie Potter,” referring to the popular fictional wizard with a lightning-bolt-shaped scar on his forehead.

Bickmore says she eventually consulted a plastic surgeon, who informed her that they would now need to remove the glue used by first responders and suture the nerve and layers of skin.

Cailey PetschIntern

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