What you need to know
Brandi Glanville is sharing new developments in her two-year health battle that she says was caused by facial parasites.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum, 53, took to Instagram on Sunday, January 25, to give a glimpse of the cosmetic surgery she recently underwent. The reality TV personality smiled in a selfie while praising the plastic surgeon who helped her prepare for the Sundance Film Festival.
Granville captioned the post: “Thank you Dr. Nicholas Nikolov of the amazing Cellsound for getting us ready for Sundance and looking forward to the PBM Princess movie event at Kemosabe.”
Mr. Nikolov is the same plastic surgeon that Mr. Granville worked with in December 2024. At the time, she told Entertainment Tonight that she spent more than $70,000 dealing with “parasites” on her face. People reached out to Dr. Nikolov for comment.
Glanville was one of several celebrities who attended the Jan. 24 screening of the Rachel Strauss-produced documentary “Possible Side Effects: The Hidden Cost of Prescription Drugs.” The screening was held at Kemo Sabe in Park City, Utah.
Brandi Glanville/Instagram
Glanville’s photo was released during her battle with facial disfigurement, which began in July 2023, and she recently shared a theory that facial parasites live just beneath the skin, causing the disfigurement.
In an interview with ET, Glanville said she believes her health problems were caused by something she ate while filming Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip in Morocco.
She later claimed that when she “fiddled with it” she could see and feel an unknown “parasite” moving inside her face, saying it was like “little bubbles popping” on her skin. “It feels like there’s a baby on my face or I’m being born,” she said.
As Glanville navigates these health issues, she has not disclosed whether she has received a specific diagnosis, but she has discussed working with multiple doctors and dentists to address the issue.
In August 2025, she said in an Instagram post that she met with infectious disease expert Dr. Michael R. Scoma, who helped her “try to figure out what’s going on under the hood.”
And in November, she said she was “working on getting her smile back” with help from Beverly Hills Dental Arts. A few months later, on January 12, 2026, she also revealed that she was working with dental surgeon Dr. Homayoun Bayrami. “Our oral health is about more than just your smile,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Brandi Glanville/Instagram
Never miss a news. Sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up to date on everything PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to human interest stories.
In addition to consulting various doctors and dentists, she also consulted “Botches” star Dr. Terry Dubrow. The doctor suggested that her suffering could be caused by a foreign object, if not a parasite.
“There are two types of microorganisms, one is called a microbe and the other is called a fungus. These are very difficult to treat and treatment can require six to 12 months of antibiotics,” he told TMZ in December 2024, describing his health problems as a “ticking time bomb.”
“Every minute that microorganisms linger on her skin and potentially cause damage, she could be more seriously harmed,” Dubrow said. “Treatment can be more difficult and more scars and nodules may form.”
