Riley Burruss is finally ready to speak on her 2020 rhinoplasty, and she’s not exactly running from the conversation. The Next Gen NYC star recently opened up to her mom, Kandi Burruss, on the Sept. 20 episode of Speak On It, revealing that she still thought she was beautiful before going under the knife. Kandi also dropped some “behind-the-scenes tea,” revealing that the procedure was nearly discussed on The Real Housewives of Atlanta before producers ultimately decided to keep it off camera.
Riley admitted that, looking back, she probably could have waited until she had fully “grown into her features,” but at the time, she simply wasn’t happy with what she saw in the mirror.
Kandi & Riley Burruss defend the nose job, shake off critics
During Speak On It, Kandi said what continues to bother her is how much attention Riley’s nose job receives years later.
“What annoys me about that situation is that— it’s like a million people that have done their nose,” she said. “And it just seems like they keep bringing yours up.”
Kandi also dropped some “behind-the-scenes tea,” revealing that Riley’s procedure could have been addressed on The Real Housewives of Atlanta when it happened.
“We were open to talking about it when we were on Housewives the season that you did it,” Kandi said, explaining that producers ultimately decided not to include the storyline because Riley was still a minor. “They felt like, you know, you were my child,” she continued, adding that producers “didn’t really want to subject you to people saying negative things.”
Riley also cleared up a longstanding assumption that criticism from viewers pushed her to change her appearance.
“I know a lot of people have speculated, they’re like, ‘Oh, people were making comments about my nose, and that’s why I did it,’ because of the public perception or whatever,” Riley said. “I actually had never heard anything about my nose before I did it.”
Instead, Riley said the decision came from her own feelings about her appearance.
“I just felt like my nose was a little bit too big for my face,” she explained. “Looking back, yes, I still think I was beautiful at the time.”
Ultimately, she said it was something that had personally bothered her, particularly when getting ready.
“It’s just something that irritated me, and I think I was a little tired of having to contour my nose so much all the time,” Riley said.
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But Riley wasn’t particularly bothered by the backlash. After all, she explained, it was her body and her decision.
