Brandi Glanville is no stranger to the spotlight, but these days, the former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star is facing a very different kind of exposure.
In a raw and emotional interview with Us Weekly, Glanville opened up about her ongoing health crisis, which she says has left her physically debilitated, emotionally drained, and in financial turmoil.
“I’m paying the minimum on my credit cards. I’ve exhausted my savings,” Glanville, 52, shared. “At my age, I feel like such a loser in a way, because I was taking care of everything. I was together. I had great credit. Now I’m scared about every little thing.”
Glanville has reportedly spent over $130,000 on medical bills since an unexplained facial swelling began in July 2024. What started as a cosmetic mystery has spiraled into a full-blown medical and mental health battle. She now believes she was battling a “face parasite.”
“I was sleeping until 5 p.m. I couldn’t get out of bed. Everything ached, at one point, I couldn’t move my neck. I couldn’t get out of bed for four hours. And I’m just like, ‘This is not an existence,’” she explained.
The former model and reality star has described herself as a “hopeful wreck,” trying desperately to reclaim her life while managing an overwhelming situation. “I stay in this house every day. I’m paying crazy amounts of rent. I’m worrying about money all day long. I have brain fog. I get one thing done a day, and I’m just frazzled.”
In a desperate attempt to fix the mysterious skin issue herself, Glanville turned to extreme measures. “I was just going down every rabbit hole, and my face loved exfoliation. It was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna get whatever this is out,’” she recalled. “So I would exfoliate, like, five times a day, and I wouldn’t even put moisturizer on and it was back to oily — and I never had oily skin.”
She even tried applying Nair, a chemical hair-removal cream, to her face in a bid to rid herself of the skin problem. “If Nair dissolves hair, maybe, it’ll dissolve whatever’s in my skin,” she reasoned. But she claims the product didn’t damage her skin nearly as much as people thought. “It looked like my face was scorched when really it was just a little bit pink.”
Glanville initially blamed the swelling on stress, pointing the finger at Bravo, the network behind The Real Housewives franchise. She claims the anxiety stemmed from sexual assault allegations made against her in January 2023 by Real Housewives of New Jersey alum Caroline Manzo. Glanville has threatened legal action against the network.
Beyond the physical toll, the ordeal has taken a serious emotional toll as well. Glanville admitted that earlier this summer, she battled suicidal thoughts once again. “I didn’t want to be here. And if it wasn’t for my kids, I don’t know that I would be here.”
She shares two sons, Mason, 22, and Jake, 18, with her ex-husband Eddie Cibrian.
With the help of a healthcare strategist, Glanville is now working to get back on her feet and manage her mounting medical debt. She also hopes that by sharing her story, she can help shed light on the often-overlooked financial and mental toll of chronic health issues.
“Medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy,” she pointed out, a grim reality she’s now living firsthand.
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