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“I’m going to send your mother back in here to smack the crap out of you!” After the death of her mother when she was only 12 years old, Patricia Heaton focused all her energy on school and eventually enrolled at Ohio State University where her love of acting was born. Earning her degree in drama, Heaton then moved to New York City to study acting and appeared in a few Off-Broadway productions before she caught the eye of the casting director of thirtysomething. After appearing in six episodes, Heaton was well on her way to stardom with guest appearances in hit series like Matlock, Party of Five and The King of Queens.

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Heaton finally caught a major break in 1996 when she was cast as Debra Barone, an overworked and exhausted housewife and mother, on Everybody Loves Raymond starring Ray Romano. Nearly a decade and over 200 episodes later, Heaton had finally come full circle as a household name in Hollywood earning seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations and two wins as well as a Screen Actors Guild trophy.

By the end of Everybody Loves Raymond, the sky was the limit for Heaton who landed the role of Frankie Heck on ABC’s newest sitcom, The Middle, in 2009. With The Middle currently in its seventh season and an obvious hit for the network, Heaton has found her honey hole in Hollywood as she’s continued to earn top dollar for appearances in shows like Back to You and Women of the House in addition to silver screen hits like Beethoven and Moms’ Night Out. But, what’s truly made her a star is that she’s one of the highest paid actresses in television earning around $235,000 per episode of The Middle with her payout from Everybody Loves Raymond totaling an upwards of $54 million.

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With that much money in the bank (and plenty more on the way), it’s no surprise why Heaton decided to splurge on herself especially after finding her niche as a matriarch of comedy all-too-often portrayed in frumpy clothing. Often spotted in pajamas, a bathrobe or mom jeans on Everybody Loves Raymond, Heaton was around 40 years old and in the height of the series’ success when she decided to have a breast reduction and tummy tuck after giving birth to four children of her own. Her reasoning for the procedure was simple: “Vanity. I mean it. Vanity.”

Over the years, Heaton has become more and more candid about her surgeries saying, “I had four C-sections and my stomach looked like the map of the world. My breasts were hanging down to here from breastfeeding those babies, and my nipples were like platters. I wanted to fit into the gowns that I finally got to wear.” When she walked the red carpet looking better than ever before, the world applauded for more than just her excellent surgeon and embraced her honesty as a breath of fresh air in the rumor-filled cliques of Hollywood.

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“It’s better to be honest if you can,” Heaton said when asked about her reasoning behind being so open about her surgeries. “There is a lot in Hollywood that is not as it seems. When I go out to make an important public appearance, I have a lot of help to look the way I do. There is someone to do my makeup, someone to do my hair, a stylist to help me find just the right clothes. It’s really not fair,” she continued, “the image we present to the world. Women shouldn’t look at the people they see on TV and compare themselves to them, because you aren’t seeing those women the way they really are.”

With her time on the operating table obviously enhancing rather than harming her career, Heaton did her absolute best to prepare herself for even the harshest criticism after the surgery. At the time, people were completely impressed by her new look but it wouldn’t be the last she would hear of it. After she supported a pro-life group during the 2016 presidential election, Heaton found herself in the center of social media bullying as people took to Twitter to lash out at the Everybody Loves Raymond star. One Twitter user wrote, “Go get some more plastic surgery and stop repressing women!” If she can handle the demands (and critics) of Hollywood, she can certainly handle a few opinionated tweets.

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In the meantime, the 58-year-old Heaton has absolutely no regrets when it comes to going under the knife and says it was one of the best decisions she’s ever made because she did it for herself. No one can change that. While many wondered if her tune would change after photos circulated of the actress enjoying a day on the beach where it appeared that her tummy tuck left her without a belly button, Heaton remained firm in her decision and confident in her looks. Now that’s a real Hollywood role model!