Former TOWIE star Charlie King has made a raw and emotional confession to his followers, stating he has hit "rock bottom" after spending a staggering £20,000 on plastic surgery and body transformations.
A Costly Transformation and a Mental Health Spiral
The 40-year-old, who joined the ITV2 reality show in 2012 alongside his then-girlfriend Gemma Collins, took to TikTok to share his turmoil. He posted a contrasting video, first showing a clip of himself looking muscular by a swimming pool, followed by a more recent, vulnerable shot of himself stepping out of a shower.
In the caption, he wrote: “Feeling like you’re at rock bottom,” adding, “Nobody tells you how hard it is going from this … to here.” King, who has spoken before about a botched nose job, elaborated in a further message, admitting he had “lost his sense of direction in life”.
The Pressure of Perfection and Past Warnings
Wearing a striped shirt with a plaster on his nose, King explained that his journey was not simply about physical appearance. “It was more just to show I’m someone that used to have quite a good relationship with his mind,” he said. “This year especially I have let it all spiral. I have lost all sense of self control, purpose, direction and it’s really caused a lot of self sabotage.”
This is not the first time King has opened up about the psychological impact of image pressure. Back in 2022, he told a health committee of MPs that he was left in the “depths of despair” due to struggles with body dysmorphia. He criticised the prolific use of filters on social media, calling them a danger to impressionable young people.
“If we look at the Kardashian lifestyle, it’s that aspirational world where you can make loads of money and look fantastic. But we need to get real — that’s a unique situation the average person will never get to,” he stated at the time.
Moving Forward with Accountability
Reflecting on his time in the spotlight, King previously told the Mirror he felt he "wasn't strong enough" for the image-based world of The Only Way Is Essex. “Being famous has got all these shiny lights about it... but there is a very dark undertone to it all - there's no denying that," he admitted.
Despite his current struggles, King ended his recent message on a note of determination. He insisted he would now 'take accountability' for his life and work to change his path forward. The star, who was on TOWIE for six series and had a headline-making relationship with Gemma Collins, also made waves in 2017 when he returned to the show for a heart-to-heart about his sexuality, later coming out live on This Morning.
