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“As a little girl, I loved the thought of playing dress up and getting ready.” Spending most of her childhood in Illinois before moving to California with her family when she was 15 years old, Denise Richards was undeniably beautiful even as a child when she recalls being the “only girl on the baseball team.” Proving early on that a girl could do anything she put her mind to, Richards was determined to find fortune and fame as a model so, after high school graduation, she set out to do exactly that.

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Well-known for her beauty by the 1990s after years of modeling across major cities like Paris, Tokyo and New York, Richards made her way back to Hollywood where she tried her hand at acting. Typically cast as the “hot girl” in shows like Saved by the Bell, Married… with Children, Seinfeld and Lois and Clark, Richards proved her versatility as an actress when she landed her first starring silver screen role in the sci-fi flick Starship Troopers before she was cast in the 1998 erotic thriller, Wild Things.

In 1999, Richards joined the list of infamous Bond girls as Christmas Jones in The World Is Not Enough but, unfortunately, her performance was panned by critics and earned her a Razzie Award nomination as one of the worst Bond girls of all time. With many arguing that the Bond film ruined Richards’ chance of establishing a long and illustrious career, it didn’t stop the Illinois native from doing her best to bounce back with television series and films like Drop Dead Gorgeous, Friends, Scary Movie 3 and Love Actually.

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Amid her wavering success in Hollywood and her tumultuous marriage with Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen from 2002 to 2006, Richards continued to hold her head high and prove her character as one of Tinsel Town’s most honest and compassionate stars. As if to prove her point, she made a jaw-dropping confession in 2011 about going under the knife early in her career. Having always wanted larger breasts, Richards visited with a plastic surgeon and insisted the procedure be done immediately. Although she ended up waiting, not even time could prevent a plastic surgery disaster for the former Bond girl.

“When I was 19, a doctor put in bigger implants than what I asked for,” she confessed. “I was in such a hurry to get them, that I didn’t research my doctor.” Admitting that she failed to do her homework, Richards said, “I just thought because they’re a plastic surgeon, they must be good. [The truth is], you have to be an advocate for your own body and ask 100 questions.” By then, unfortunately, it was already too late.

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After the original surgery left Richards with an oversized chest, she followed up with a second surgeon to correct the procedure. Instead or reducing her chest size, the second surgeon increased her implants once again and left Richards with little hope that her chest would ever return to normal. That’s when her close friends finally stepped in and suggested that Richards take the surgeons to court for their botched work. However, with filming about to start on her next project, Richards gave up after exchanging her former confidence for a devastating vulnerability.

Years later, Richards finally had the surgery corrected by going under the knife a third time to have her implants reduced. Luckily, the results were just what Richards envisioned the first time as a 19-year-old girl. “This is the size I wanted them to look at 19,” she said. “There is a long investment with breast implants.” But, was Richards’ investment too much? When asked if she had any regrets about her implants, Richards asked, rhetorically, “Hasn’t half of Los Angeles had their boobs done?”

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While Richards has only confirmed her three breast enhancement surgeries (they were hard to deny, after all), many critics argue that the actress and former model has also had some minor, less invasive, work done to her face including Botox injections and lip fillers to enhance her signature pout and smooth out any wrinkles. When asked how she’s managed to defy aging at 45 years old, Richards stays true to form by gracefully sidestepping the question saying, “I honestly feel that it’s whatever makes a person feel good about themselves.”

Despite her first two botched surgeries, Richards’ chest size didn’t hinder her career as much as her poor performance as a Bond girl in 1999. In fact, her busty chest might’ve helped matters since she went on to star in her own reality series on the E! network. Other than that, she’s made sporadic appearances in film and television with her most recent work including a direct-to-DVD film—Christmas Trade—and a starring role in the 2016 television pilot, Rock in a Hard Place. As long as she steers clear of all things James Bond, Richards should be set!