BBC Strictly Come Dancing Toyah Willcox felt like 'victim' before 'life-changing' surgery

Strictly Come Dancing star Toyah Willcox has admitted that she felt more doors opened in her life after undergoing a "life-changing" surgery. The 66-year-old singer has been open about her decision to have a face lift in the past, after feeling "like a victim" when seeing her aging face change.

In her 2005 book Diary of a Facelift, she revealed she’d decided to go under the knife following comments from male commentators after she appeared on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here.

She wrote: "On returning home [from I'm a Celeb], I read various derogoratory newspaper articles about my jungle experience, and listened to hurtful comments being made about me on a variety of TV and radio programmes.

"Jonathan Ross on his Radio Two show, which has around eight million listeners, said I looked so awful I shouldn't be allowed to be seen on TV, and that I should go away and do something about it.

"Various male writers in a number of tabloids backed up this view. The worst thing was that even though I found opinions such as these little more than an expression of body fascism, secretly I agreed with them."

Her book detailed how she researched the right surgeon before deciding to finally take the plunge and go under the knife - a choice which she said she would do all over again.

Sharing how she felt one year after recovery, Toyah penned: "It is now 12 months since my op. Without any shadow of a doubt, my life has changed completely.

"In addition to the fact that the surgery has physically altered my 'outer shell' for the better, significant positive changes have also occured within."

She added that she "couldn't put a price" on the way that she was feeling post-op, saying: "My mind, personality and psyche are totally different; I now have an inner peace and confidence, the value of which I cannot even begin to put a price on."

Toyah went on to explain that her life had changed in a positive way, with the "calibre of work" being offered greatly improving and her receiving more compliments about the way that she looked than ever before.

She added that she "wasn't ashamed" of having work done and felt it was the right thing to do with being open about her journey. The singer wrote: "When considering whether I would follow this path again, the answer would have to be 'yes'.

"We shouldn't feel pressured into hiding the results of our surgery; there is no shame in wanting to show the world your true face, who you feel you truly are and how you should really look.

"For some people their body or physical appearance is more like a prison, and so if surgery can unlock the door and set them free, why not try it?"

Toyah continued: "My journey is now complete, I no longer feel a victim of the ageing process and I am more secure in my workplace. The lifelong burden of my tired eyes has been lifted and my face has ceased to wear a permanent expression of stress and exhaustion.

"I'm fit, healthy and full of confidence - life has never been better."