Plastic surgery on UK TV!

Contestants are to undergo plastic surgery for a new reality TV show.

A British version of the American series Extreme Makeover, in which participants are filmed as they go under the surgeon's knife, will be broadcast on the Living TV cable and satellite channel early next year.

The US version has already been criticised by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons. Its president, Norman Waterhouse, said:

"Television programmes promising total makeovers often give the impression that plastic surgery is as simple as buying cosmetics."

The show is thought to have contributed to a dramatic rise in cosmetic surgery.

Dr Keith LaFerriere, of the American Academy of Facial Plastic Surgery, said: "We've seen a tremendous increase - up 40 per cent in facelifts for women in 2003."