- Vanessa Cross, who previously weighed 450 pounds, lost 250 pounds. and underwent skin removal surgery
- She tells PEOPLE that her newfound confidence allows her to “hold my head up.”
- She says her skin removal procedure was so easy she’s ‘addicted to plastic surgery’ and wants to get a Brazilian butt lift
Vanessa Cross can’t wait to reach the next goal in her impressive weight loss journey.
Ahead of the season 3 premiere, the 1000-Lb. Best Friends star opened up to PEOPLE and revealed that following her 250 lbs. weight loss, finally approved for skin removal surgery. Now, the 46-year-old says she is “addicted to plastic surgery” and has her eyes on a BBL for her next operation.
“Life has changed so much for me, from 450 to now I’m under 200 pounds,” she tells PEOPLE. “I actually go to the gym. I actually eat super healthy food. I never saw myself living a healthy lifestyle and here I am.”
In addition to reaching 200 pounds, Cross’ latest accomplishment was getting approval for skin-removal surgery and saying goodbye to “Betsy May” — the nickname she gave to the excess skin on her stomach.
“I got turned down by a few plastic surgeons, which crossed my mind because it was nothing but a bunch of hanging skin,” she explains. “But eventually, I found a doctor who accepted me and I had my plastic surgery.”
“I had cut Betsy May, honey!” she says while waving her arms in the air. “He’s gone! He’s swimming somewhere!”
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Cross admits it was scary and frustrating to be told no over and over again. She was beginning to accept that her excess skin would be a permanent part of her.
“All I wanted was to be normal,” she says. “When I lost all the weight but still had that saggy skin, going to the gym, every time I ran you could hear the fat roller slapping. People would stare. You wear a tank top and you have bat wings hanging out and they go ‘pop pop pop’.”
“Now I go to the gym and run and I have absolutely no problems. This is amazing,” he continues. “Now I’m really living life. Instead of being the big man who just exists, I live.”
Since the surgery, Cross says she’s been trying to strengthen and tone the muscles in her arms and stomach, where excess skin was removed.
However, her next and “biggest goal” is to get a Brazilian butt lift, a procedure that uses “fat transfer techniques to achieve a fuller, rounder butt contour,” according to American Board of Cosmetic Surgery.
“I’m a bit addicted to plastic surgery because my treatment was extremely easy and painless. So my next goal is a BBL. I want my Brazilian butt lift,” she says. “You know, white girl, no butt ever in my life. Mum and Dad didn’t have a butt, so I’m going to need my plastic surgeon to give me one of those little round booties.’
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Even before the BBL, Cross boasts that her confidence level is through the roof and continues to rise.
“I feel like I’m the meanest woman alive and I can’t be touched. I love being able to walk out the door every day and hold my head up knowing that I am somebody,” she tells PEOPLE. “Yeah, maybe I was someone at 450 pounds, but I was someone who just wanted to stay hidden. Now Vanessa is out there, baby! I want people to see me. I am happy. I am healthy.”
Feeling better, Cross says she can’t wait for fans to see her journey to get skin removal surgery approved in the upcoming season 3 of 1000-Lb. Best Friends.
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In PEOPLE’s exclusive clip for the premiere, Cross shows off all the scale-free victories she’s achieved since losing weight. She can’t believe she can actually bend her legs enough to reach down and put on a pair of socks.
“Every day I achieve monumental goals that normal and average sized people have lived with every day of their lives,” he said in the clip. “I can just get up and walk. I get up from the bed. I don’t need to have a toilet next to the bed. I don’t have to wear diapers anymore.”
In the clip, Cross added that she also likes fitness now and goes to the park to work out on her own. However, she has trouble doing jumping jacks and high knees due to her excess skin.
“My confidence is building, but I feel a lot more self-conscious when it comes to all my skin, all my eyelashes,” she shared while tucking her excess skin into her leggings. “Miss Betsy May, you make it hard, man.”
“As it looks, it’s not sexy, it’s not cute. Let’s keep it 100. I just feel like an old woman about everything,” she said. “So I’m hoping and hoping and hoping that I’ll be approved for skin surgery in the next few weeks.”
Cross added in the clip, “That’s how I kept my weight off [fingers crossed].”
The season 3 premiere of the 1,000-Lb. Best Friends airs Tuesday, October 22 at 10:00 PM ET/PT on TLC and Discovery+.
