By Mark Gray
2:05pm PDT, Oct 4, 2023
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For Christy Carlson Romano's mom, bigger is better — even when her daughter was still a teenager. In fact, the Disney alum revealed that her mom, Sharon Romano, encouraged her to get breast implants as a young actress. At the time, Christy was starring in "Cadet Kelly" and had developed "body image issues big time." It was then that her mom provided a solution to the problem.
Keep clicking to read more about Christy's decision to go under the knife, and how she felt "really ugly" on the aforementioned made-for-TV movie.
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Christy Carlson Romano was on the verge of becoming an adult when she starred in "Cadet Kelly," but she never felt confident in herself.
During an appearance on the "Vulnerable" podcast, the "Even Stevens" alum recalled, "At the time obviously, I was coming of age in Hollywood … and my mom and me looked at footage or some s***. She was like, 'Christy, if you want to get breast implants, I just want to let you know that's an option.'"
Christy has no ill will toward her mother, Sharon, noting that she's from "a whole different generation."
"I love my mom," Christy said. "She was stage mom-ing that moment."
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Christy Carlson Romano's "Cadet Kelly" character, Jennifer Stone, "wasn't glam" — especially not "in juxtaposition" to Hilary Duff's Kelly Collins character.
"I had that really tight very, like, rigid uniform on," Christy said. "I remember seeing [myself] … standing face-to-face with her and I'm completely flat-chested."
Not long after Christy celebrated her 18th birthday, she decided it was time to get breast implants.
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After Christy Carlson Romano's plastic surgery reveal, fans took to Instagram to applaud her for her honesty.
"This gave me CHILLS. You were a child and the one who suggested cosmetic surgery should have been the one to shield you from that. I'm so, so sorry Christy," one person wrote.
Replied Christy, "The system affects everyone in the family [to be honest]."
She told another follower that she has "no regrets."
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Since her time as a Disney star, Christy Carlson Romano has been outspoken about her struggles with her mental health. "Many of you know me as the girl from that TV show or movie you once saw on the Disney Channel," she wrote in a 2019 essay for Teen Vogue. "Maybe you saw me on Broadway or in a Lifetime Movie. I am an actress and if you were going to define my 'brand' you might say I was 'perfect' or 'pulled together.' I'm here to throw a wrench at that image."
"During a period of time in my life, I grappled with depression, drinking, and more, desperate to find fixes for how I felt," she added.
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While starring on the Disney Channel's "Even Stevens" in the early aughts, Christy Carlson Romano was rolling in the dough. As a 16-year-old, she had raked in "millions of dollars" through her acting career, a book deal and a record deal. In 2021, she admitted that she blew through all of her money. All of it.
In a YouTube video, Christy, 39, said she had a "complicated" relationship with money, having always thought she'd have an ample amount of it.
"My biggest thing about child actors, you aren't told that the work is going to slow down," she said. "In fact, I was told the opposite, specifically by my mom, some of my team, even my money manager at the time."
Initially, Christy put some money toward college, but she dropped out less than two years later.
"Then I had this money at my disposal," she said. "I was never told how much money I was making. Money didn't have a purpose for me, I didn't really know what it was. I just knew that I had it and didn't care about it. That's a problem."
Once the money ran out, she took roles she didn't really want. "Basically, I did a nude scene," she recalled. "I had never thought in a million years that I would ever do something like this. I was America's sweetheart, morally sound in my mind. I believed in the Disney magic, I still do. And then I felt so exploited and marked and horrible."
