How ‘predatory’ Turkish clinics are using OnlyFans stars and social media influencers to lure in young women to get boob jobs and butt lifts
- Some UK OnlyFans models are being used to promote cut-price surgery abroad
- READ MORE: Inside UK’s deadly, celebrity-inspired craze for Turkish surgery
Turkish plastic surgery clinics are teaming up with OnlyFans stars to lure British women into going under the knife on the cheap, campaigners have warned.
Models and social media influencers are helping promote ops like boob jobs and bum lifts to their thousands of followers.
MailOnline can reveal that some even offer discount codes that people can use to book a procedure overseas.
Experts have lambasted the ‘predatory’ practices, claiming that the tactic exploits body insecurities rife in young women by luring them with an unrealistic ideal.
Women’s partners, who may be patrons of OnlyFans models, could also potentially pressure their wives and girlfriends to go under the knife, campaigners say.
ClinicHub, an Istanbul-based surgery, has partnered with British OnlyFans model Phoebe Bartlett to offer her followers a discount code for procedures in Turkey
Ms Bartlett describes her body as being ‘by ClinicHub’ and directs her followers to the clinic if they want similar work done
Ronnie Havis, a 23-year-old OnlyFans model from Essex who posts racy photoshoots dressed as characters like Velma from Scooby Doo or the video game character Lara Croft, was also shown off by Badge Clinic as an example of their work
They added that the combination of overseas clinics selling surgery as the cheap and easy solution was a ‘recipe for disaster’ and that life-changing surgery should never ‘be sold at a discount’.
MailOnline’s probe found ClinicHub, an Istanbul-based clinic, partnered with British OnlyFans model Phoebe Bartlett to offer her followers a £100 discount code for all procedures with its surgeons.
Ms Bartlett, who has 20,000 followers on social media, goes by the moniker Princess Phe on the online site, where she charges subscribers £10 a month to access her explicit content.
She had a £2,500 Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) with the clinic in January, during which surgeons extracted seven litres of fat from other parts of her body to inject into her behind to give her a perkier posterior.
But this is more than double the amount of a fat UK surgeons recommend being removed in a single sitting.
READ MORE: More Brits will die unless we crack down on Turkey’s cheap cowboy surgery market now, writes Labour MP and botched op campaigner KEVAN JONES
Ms Bartlett has also written an official testimonial on the clinic’s social media page, which also plugged a promo code featuring her name.
‘If anyone is thinking of getting surgery of any sort I HIGHLY recommend Clinichub! 10/10 service and care and I am obsessed with my results!’
In a separate Instagram post, that is not flagged as an advertisement, Ms Bartlett also detailed being treated to lunch and going on a tour of Istanbul with ClinicHub representatives.
Ms Bartlett is not the only the British adult content creator to work with the clinic.
MailOnline can also reveal other Turkish sites are using UK OnlyFans models to promote their surgeries to the British public.
Model Ivy Red, who creates Manchester United-themed adult content on OnlyFans, recently featured in a testimonial video about getting liposuction and a BBL with the Istanbul-based Elite Cosmetic Surgery on Instagram.
Replying to one of their posts, the adult star, who has more than 50,000 followers on social media, said: ‘You guys are the best.’
Another OnlyFans model, Lucy Bouverie-Brine, with 150,000 followers, was also featured by the page, boasting of getting a £5,500 liposuction, BBL and boob job package.
London-based adult model Sophia Petrou, who has almost 60,000 Instagram followers, was highlighted by Istanbul-based Badge Clinic about getting a £3,000 BBL with them last year.
Model Ivy Red, who creates Manchester United themed adult content on OnlyFans, recently featured in a testimonial video about getting liposuction and a BBL with the Istanbul-based Elite Cosmetic Surgery
Lucy Bouverie-Brine, with 150,000 followers, was also featured by Elite Cosmetic Surgery boasting of getting a £5,500 liposuction, BBL and boob job package
London-based adult model Sophia Petrou, who has almost 60,000 Instagram followers, was highlighted by Istanbul-based Badge Clinic about getting a £3,000 BBL with them last year
The model also posted on her Instagram page about being picked up at the airport by a VIP limo sent by the clinic which then transported her to a 5-star hotel.
However, she told this website she ‘wasn’t compensated’ for the BBL she had with the clinic.
Ronnie Havis, a 23-year-old OnlyFans model from Essex who posts racy photoshoots dressed as characters like Velma from Scooby Doo or the video game character Lara Croft, was also shown off by the clinic as an example of their work.
Badge Clinic posted before and after pics of the mother-of-two’s breast implants on Instagram.
It is unknown if the models received an official discount or some other form of compensation for being featured in the promotions.
Dawn Knight, who has campaigned against poor practises in cosmetic surgery, said Turkish clinics were engaging in ‘predatory’ tactics to pressure Brits to go under the knife
According to UK advertising rules, if they have any such partnership it should be clearly identified.
Some models contacted by this website said some clinics do run private ‘influencer programmes’ where women with certain follower numbers on social media are offered incentives as part of their treatment package.
MailOnline approached the other models to also clarify their arrangements.
Numerous campaigners have raised concerns about how young girls are being bombarded with curated images of the ‘ideal’, and often unachievable, female body.
Some fear overseas cosmetic surgery clinics are taking advantage of this body dysmorphia, by offering ‘cheap’ cosmetic surgery as the easy, quick-fix solution, often packaging it with holiday to act as an extra incentive.
Dawn Knight, who has campaigned tirelessly against poor practise cosmetic surgery since she herself suffered a botched eyelift, said the OnlyFans promotions were yet another example of ‘predatory’ marketing by Turkish clinics.
‘It’s absolutely exploiting people at their most vulnerable,’ she said.
‘And the offer of the all inclusive package sold like a holiday is often misleading and clouding the reality of the risks associated with any surgical procedure,’ she said.
She added that clinics also needed to be honest with women about the ongoing costs of these procedures, and that they were setting themselves up for years of follow-up operations.
‘Since Covid the number of sponsored ads are everywhere, so clearly the mass marketing is working,’ Ms Knight said.
‘Be careful. Please, look more deeply into this and the risks.
‘Everyone has a choice, and ultimately its their decision. But please gather all the facts, don’t be rushed, be sure you know what you will have to do if it goes wrong.’
She said people interested in going overseas for surgery should watch out for ‘red flags’ like being asked to pay in cash or sign waivers just before going under the knife.
‘For those that had surgery and it went well abroad congratulations, you don’t have to live like the ones that didn’t and you didn’t come home in a body bag,’ she said.
Ms Knight has also invited Ms Bartlett to spend a week with those supporting victims of botched surgery abroad.
Chris Calland, from Not Just Behaviour — a group that talks to UK schoolchildren about issues like body image, told MailOnline last year that partnerships between cosmetic surgery providers and OnlyFans models in the UK, was concerning.
She said: ‘Over the last couple of years people have felt very low and their life is not quite matching up to others.
‘Then they’re presented with “here’s something you can do very easily” and seems to provide an answer.’
And Katharine Wright, of the health thinktank Nuffield Council on Bioethics, said the cosmetic industry promotion had to be put in the context of 24/7 social media frenzy that women and girls now find themselves.
‘Social media feeds bombard girls and women with images of the “ideal” body that will bring you happiness and success,’ she said.
‘Providers of cosmetic procedures must be responsible in how they advertise procedures, as to not make them seem like a “quick fix” that will lead to happiness or portray particular body types in a negative manner.’
All of the clinics were approached for comment.
All the known Brit fatalities in Turkey from surgery
At least 24 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Here, MailOnline highlights some of the victims.
Leah Cambridge
Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, 29, died after having the ‘Brazilian butt lift’ procedure in Turkey
The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just one day after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018.
The trainee beautician, described as being ‘paranoid about her body’, paid in cash for the procedure after being inspired by pictures on Instagram.
The procedure involved having fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks.
But she suffered a fatal complication when fat was accidentally injected into a vein causing her to have three heart attacks on the operating table.
Ms Cambridge’s partner Scott Franks told Wakefield Coroner’s Court that the surgeon who carried out the procedure told him he had ‘injected the fat too far into the muscle and it entered her veins’.
Mr Franks said when he flew out to Turkey after his partner died, Dr Ali Uckan, the surgeon who treated Leah, had told him: ‘It’s a guessing game, you can’t see where you are going into.’
Ms Cambridge father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last year hearing how he was never able to get past the loss of his daughter.
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown
Diarra Brown, 28, died after having liposuction in Turkey
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown, died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic in the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021.
She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat removed from her hips.
While the procedure initially appeared to be a success, Ms Brown ‘suddenly’ fell ill while having her dressings changed.
She died just hours later.
Social media posts from family and friends described her as a ‘beautiful soul’ and a ‘close friend’.
‘This must be a dream,’ one post said. ‘Still can’t come to terms with this yet.’
‘I miss you angel. I’m devastated you were taken away way before your time,’ said another.
Shannon Bowe
Shannon Bowe, 28 died after undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey
Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023.
The 28-year-old passed away during the procedure which involves placing a band around the stomach.
Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death have not been revealed.
In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe’s boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: ‘Sleep tight my angel, love you forever and always.’
Gastric band surgery involves a doctor placing a gastric band around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch.
When the patient eats, this small pouch fills up more quickly than their stomach normally would, making them feel fuller with less food.
By encouraging them to eat less, the procedure can help patients lose weight.
Melissa Kerr
Melissa Kerr, 31, of Gorleston, Norfolk, died after having a BBL in Turkey
Melissa Kerr, 31, died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift in Turkey in 2019, just before her wedding.
Ms Kerr traveled to Istanbul’s Medicana Haznedar Hospital in November that year for gluteal augmentation, which can cost up to £3,150.
The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung as a result of undergoing the surgery.
Her twin sister Natasha who set up a justgiving.com page after her death described her a ‘a pure and beautiful soul inside and out’.
She said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we are going through, life without her will never be the same again.
‘We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we are left with.’
Melissa’s partner Skye Birch said: ‘I will continue to love you with all my heart until my last breath.’
Ms Kerr also worked as a volunteer helping domestic violence victims and supporting people through bereavement.
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, 38, died after liposuction in Turkey
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey.
The mother-of-three bought an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed-up with people asking her if she was pregnant, according to her husband.
A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel during the surgery, with the cause of death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure.
Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the tummy which covers vital internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel.
Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery, instead believing she had simply gone on a holiday with her friends.
It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was suffering from stomach pains following the procedure that he found out what had happened.
Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a private medical practice in the UK for surgery but added that the cost had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.
Carol Keenan
Carol Keenan, 54, died after having a BBL and tummy tuck in Turkey
Carol Keenan, 54, died six days after undergoing a combined Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey.
The grandmother, of Glenrothes, Fife, paid £7,000 for the procedures at a private hospital in Istanbul in 2022 after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.
Ms Keenan also accepted the offer of free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.
But she died before she was due to have a final check up and fly home.
Speaking to MailOnline in April, her family said they are still waiting for the results of her autopsy 11 months on from her death.
Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, said: ‘My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size 10 and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming.
‘She was a very active grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids-but she was not happy with her body even though everyone told her she looked great.
‘She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I don’t know if it was like a mid-life crisis.’
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