Brandi Glanville has spent years isolating herself at home amid a grueling battle with facial disfigurement, revealing that some of her friends did not believe she was physically ill.
The 53-year-old reality television personality explained during a recent episode of her podcast, Brandi Glanville Unfiltered, and in an interview with entertainment news outlet TMZ that she now stays inside her home all day, every day, rarely seeing anyone other than her immediate family.
Glanville shares two sons, 23-year-old Mason and 19-year-old Jake, with her ex-husband, actor Eddie Cibrian, who is known for his roles in network television dramas such as Third Watch and CSI: Miami.
Her seclusive lifestyle stems primarily from a demanding medical treatment regimen that consists of a rotating series of 18-hour intravenous (IV) therapy sessions. After spending the majority of each day receiving treatments intravenously, she spends the remainder of her day traveling to the local pharmacy to pick up additional prescription medications.
Social Isolation and Mental Health Strain
Glanville, who gained widespread public recognition appearing on the Bravo reality television series The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, explained that her medical condition caused her to develop severe anxiety about leaving her residence. As a result of her persistent facial symptoms and treatment schedule, she prefers to stay indoors accompanied only by her dogs.
She told TMZ that she eventually stopped answering phone calls and replying to text messages from her friends because she rarely had any new medical updates to report regarding her condition.
The former television personality acknowledged that several of her close friends doubted she was suffering from a genuine physical illness, suspecting instead that her physical deterioration was driven by mental health struggles and depression.
"My friends were great but I isolated. They would call but I wouldn't pick up, I wouldn't answer my text because I wouldn't have any new news," Glanville said. "And a lot of them didn't believe anything was happening to me. They were worried it was just depression. It's my fault because I just wanted to deal with this myself because it's hard to explain and I didn't have answers for it."
During the September 11 episode of her podcast Brandi Glanville Unfiltered, she opened up about feeling depressed and completely refraining from socializing ever since her facial disfigurement symptoms first began three years ago.
"I love all my friends, I do. But this is hard to explain and I can't go out.. I get depressed," Glanville admitted. "I don't want to talk on the phone. I have to isolate. It's like I'm back in my own personal COVID. I gotten rid of all of my furniture [and] most of my clothes."
Financial Burden and GoFundMe Support
The ongoing medical crisis has also created a severe financial burden for the reality star, who revealed she has spent over $113,000 attempting to determine the underlying cause of her facial disfigurement and undergo medical treatment.
Glanville broke down in tears on her podcast as she discussed her costly treatment regimen, which carries an ongoing monthly cost of approximately $16,000. The mounting medical bills prompted a close friend to launch an online fundraiser on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe to help cover her care.
In her interview with TMZ, Glanville admitted she felt embarrassed to ask the public for financial assistance, stating that asking other people for money was the last thing she wanted to do.
To help pay for her medical expenses, Glanville agreed to join the cast of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, a reality competition series where celebrity contestants undergo demanding military training exercises. She admitted she did not want to participate in the physically grueling show but desperately needed the paycheck.
According to TMZ, Glanville shared a dark rationale for taking on the production: "If she was going to die, she might as well make some money first."
Complex Diagnoses and Medical Complications
Throughout her three-year health struggle, Glanville has received a series of complex medical diagnoses involving overlapping bacterial, fungal, viral, and skin conditions.
She revealed she contracted an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection involving ESBL Klebsiella and Enterobacter, alongside a fungal infection known as Coccidioidomycosis, an inflammatory skin reaction called Demodex dermatitis, and the contagious viral illness Mononucleosis.
In addition to those infections, gossip column Page Six reported that Glanville claimed she suffered from a fungal ball in her face that eventually required surgical extraction.
Over the summer, Glanville discovered a benign, non-cancerous tumor located inside one of the lymph nodes in her face while continuing to fight what she described as a facial parasite.
Speaking on a June episode of her podcast, she noted that the non-cancerous tumor "could be why the fluid is going around my face," adding that her facial features had started sinking in again following prior medical procedures.
Glanville stated she believes her health struggles were partly triggered by ruptured silicone breast implants. She explained that leaking silicone from the ruptured implants had clogged her lymph nodes, hindering normal fluid drainage throughout her facial tissues.
She previously underwent specialized medical treatments for fluid drainage, but in early June she revealed that the parasite had returned and parts of her face were sinking again.
Expressing her frustration and desire to recover after three difficult years, Glanville shared: "I don't know what's wrong with me, guys. I thought I was fixed, and then it happened again and now it's sinking in again." She added that she remains hopeful of recovering so she can put on a ton of makeup again and experience a complete glow-up.
