Tomi Grainger, who is a drag performer, has hit back at trolls who made cruel comments after they documented their facelift journey. (Tomi Grainger/TikTok)
A drag performer has hit back at trolls who flooded their social media account with cruel comments after they documented their facelift journey.
Tomi Grainger, from Sydney, has been using their TikTok account (tomi.queen) to document their journey pre and post facelift surgery.
At just 28 years old, many viewers have questioned why drag queen Tomi felt the need to have the facelift done.
A comment left on a video before the operation says: “Any doctor doing that surgery should have their license taken from them, you look amazing the way you are!!”
They say the surgery is to fix the damage of both being overweight when they were younger, and the eating disorder that followed.
@tomi.queen
The Australian drag performer has hit back at criticism in a video where they share their reason for having the surgery.
In the video Tomi reveals they have been “trolled all over TikTok” about their decision to get surgery.
“I’m not an average 28-year-old and my situation is not the same as every other 28-year-old,” they say.
Tomi then shows the audience photos from their younger years.
“This is me in my in my first year of high school, as you can see considerably overweight. This is me in my second year of university the second time I had an eating disorder.”
Tomi recalls times of being severely malnourished and said the surgery was to “fix the damage” done in the past.”You can’t blame me for doing that,” they said.
@tomi.queen Why I got a #facelift #plasticsurgery #botox #botched
In an interview with FEMAIL, Tomi said in the midst of their eating disorder they went from 70kg to 40kg. This resulted in a lot of long term damage to Tomi’s body and skin around their mouth, they shared.
Having already tried face fillers as a short term solution, Tomi said their injector suggested they see a plastic surgeon.
“It never really bothered me until I noticed heavy cracks begin to form around my mouth a few hours after wearing makeup.
“I am a drag queen and so my appearance means a lot to me. You have your photo taken often, you see yourself back in videos, and I began to fixate on it.”
In a video prior to the surgery Tomi says after a couple of hours in drag makeup “you can really see the cracks that form because of my sagging skin”.
@tomi.queen Tomorrow I’m getting the snip #facelift #dragrace #rupaulsdragrace
Tomi said they had tried multiple ways of improving their skin before getting a facelift, but felt surgery was “the only solution.”
The 28-year-old said: “Given that I had a history of anorexia, I’d reduced my skin collagen and made it far more elastic than for a regular 28-year-old male.”
Tomi is pleased with the procedure and shared they “have no regrets”.
They continue to heal daily and will see full results once fully recovered.
“Even if I had the surgery without any medical history, it really shouldn’t matter.
“As an educated and informed adult under the guidance of an expert medical professional, we should feel empowered to make the decision that feels right for us.”
Tomi feels many more people would get surgery to improve their lives “if they weren’t fearful of what others would say in response”.