Former glamour model Alicia Douvall has married her businessman fiance David Anstiss, calling him her best friend and the kindest man on the planet. The 47-year-old former Page 3 model announced her wedding last week following years of high-profile celebrity relationships and extensive cosmetic procedures.
"We got married! So happy to have married my best friend and kindest man on the planet," Douvall said.
Referencing her past dating history, Douvall added: "I saved the best till last!"
Early life and modelling career
Douvall was born Sarah Howes and later changed her name to Alicia Douvall to suit her glamour modelling career. Her father was a self-made millionaire and Conservative councillor, and she attended the prestigious Springfield Park School in Horsham, West Sussex. She admitted that being sent to boarding school at nine years old started her struggles with self-confidence and an obsession with her appearance.
As a child, Douvall saved her pocket money to purchase beauty items including tanning tablets and hair dye. When she was 11 years old, she arranged to have a sunbed delivered directly to her boarding school. After being expelled at age 17, she underwent her first breast augmentation surgery and decided to enter glamour modelling because she was too short for catwalk work.
By the late 1990s, Douvall worked as a Page 3 model, appeared in magazines, and hosted shows on Playboy TV while earning £5,000 per week. In 2006, she appeared on the reality television show Love Island, earning a six-figure sum despite being eliminated after one week in the villa.
Cosmetic surgery addiction
Over her lifetime, Douvall has undergone more than 400 cosmetic procedures, spending an estimated £1 million. Her surgeries included 18 breast augmentations, 11 nose operations, buttock implants, and having her ribs shaved down. At the height of her fame, she sought to have the largest breasts in Britain and underwent cosmetic enhancements as frequently as once a week.
"Apart from my daughter's education, I spent nothing on anything but surgery. I ate beans on toast and never had a holiday. I even persuaded boyfriends to pay for operations," Douvall told The Mail On Sunday in 2013.
Douvall has two daughters, 31-year-old Georgia and Papaya, who was born in 2011. Following the birth of Papaya, Douvall pledged to stop undergoing cosmetic surgery, though she struggled to overcome her addiction.
"Even when my daughter begged me to stop having surgery, I carried on. I was convinced the next operation was going to make everything OK, so I didn't listen," Douvall said.
She was later diagnosed with body dysmorphic disorder, a mental health condition linked to anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder that causes individuals to obsess over perceived flaws in their appearance.
Health complications and sepsis
In 2015, Douvall revealed that her bottom implants had ruptured inside her body, causing silicone to leak into her bloodstream. By 2021, she stated that botched procedures left her requiring Botox injections every six months to maintain her facial structure.
In June 2020, Douvall suffered a major medical emergency when her left breast became severely inflamed due to Allergan implants, a brand linked to cancer cases. Her breast swelled to double its normal size and turned red raw. Believing she had heat stroke, she found herself unable to move and began saying goodbye to relatives.
Doctors diagnosed Douvall with sepsis, a severe reaction to infection. An MRI scan also revealed a lump and a swollen lymph node caused by the textured surface of the implant.
"It was the final wake-up call to realising the stupid mistakes I've made in my past. It was a miracle that I'd lasted this long," Douvall said.
Skincare business transition
Following her health struggles, Douvall shifted from undergoing cosmetic procedures to promoting natural anti-ageing methods. In 2011, she launched Douvall's, a natural skincare brand, alongside her daughter Georgia after discovering the cosmetic benefits of cold-pressed argan oil.
Although Douvall once caused public controversy by stating she would not object if her eldest daughter chose to have plastic surgery, she invested her full £20,000 savings into the business venture. The skincare line expanded globally and is now sold at major retailers including Sephora and Superdrug in the United Kingdom and Walmart in the United States.
Celebrity relationships and affairs
Douvall earned national attention for publicising details about her romantic relationships with famous men. She was linked to figures such as Mick Hucknall, P Diddy, Mickey Rourke, Dean Gaffney, John Terry, Fabien Barthez, Calum Best, Shaggy, and Dane Bowers, and was previously engaged to Dennis Rodman.
During her appearance on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, Douvall discussed her former living arrangement with retired footballer Dwight Yorke with housemate Katie Price. Douvall revealed that Yorke cheated on her with Price while they lived together, adding that the resulting feud in 2002 helped launch her public career.
"He was alright, just a charmer and had an amazing body," Douvall said of Yorke. When Price asked if Douvall had visited his home, Douvall replied: "I lived with him, while he was with you."
Douvall also revealed details in 2012 regarding a six-month affair with music executive Simon Cowell, now 66, after meeting him in a hotel bar in 2001. She stated that Cowell evaluated her during their relationship and rated her performance in bed.
"He was just like Fifty Shades Lothario Christian Grey! He was sensitive but domineering," Douvall told Closer magazine. She told The Sun that on their third or fourth date, "we ended up doing it 11 times in one night... We started having sex and went on through the night. We slept a little bit in between but only for a few minutes." The affair ended after six months when Cowell lost interest.
Battles with anorexia
Douvall has spoken openly about her long-standing battle with eating disorders, which began when she developed anorexia at age 12. She attributed her disorder to verbal criticism from her father during her childhood.
"My dad was a local Conservative councilor, a self-made millionaire, and just a very, very strict person. It felt like we all lived in fear," Douvall told The Sun in 2015. "He called me names and I was the one who he said was ugly and had no brains. And that, to me, was worse than getting, you know, a punch or hit, because you knew physical violence was wrong and that makes them in a weaker position."
Douvall recalled restricting her food intake for days at a time, sometimes consuming only a single leaf of lettuce for breakfast and half a slice of cucumber for lunch.
"And I carried on like that until I was literally just surviving off water and I'd be really happy if I went three, four days without food," Douvall said.
