The eight-part series, to air later this year, will send British volunteers to Los Angeles for six weeks. They will receive an all-expenses-paid makeover involving cosmetic surgery, a new hairstyle, fashion advice and sessions with a life coach.
Living TV announced last week it was making a UK version of hit US show 'Extreme Makeover', which uses a similar format but pays its volunteers. The first two series of the American show have significantly boosted the channel's audience ratings.
'The Swan', from US TV network Fox, pits its contestants against one another in beauty contest following their surgical makeovers to find out which of the 16 ugly ducklings has turned into the most beautiful swan.
MTV's 'I Want a Famous Face' gives volunteers surgery to enable them to look like their favourite celebrities. Contestants have attempted, with varying degrees of success, to resemble stars such as Britney Spears and Brad Pitt.
Channel 4 has also caught on to the trend. It has just begun screening hit US drama series 'Nip/Tuck', which was previously broadcast in the UK on Sky One. The show's strapline is: "Beauty comes from within... the operating theatre."
Dr Rod Rohrich, the president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, said: "This new wave of plastic surgery reality television is a serious cause for concern. Some patients on these shows have unrealistic and, frankly, unhealthy expectations about what plastic surgery can do for them."
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