Tiffany Pollard aka “New York” is a pioneer and legend in the reality television game. She captured our hearts over a decade ago when she competed for the love of rapper Flavor Flav on VH1’s reality hit show, Flavor of Love.
Although she did not win, the self-proclaimed HBIC became an instant fan fave which led her to gain a two-season spinoff show, I Love New York, that centered around her finding love. Since then Pollard has continued to thrive and build her name. Most recently she has entered season 2 of her VH1 Digital series Brunch With Tiffany in which she holds candid interviews with celebrities. We recently sat down with Pollard to discuss her decision to get her breast implants removed, ‘Brunch with Tiffany’ and her future reality tv plans.
The Source: What was your reaction to the young lady who paid homage to you for Halloween?
Tiffany Pollard: OMG! It was the cutest thing ever. I posted the video because she embodied the moment. She put her time and effort into it.
Your episode of Botched, there are a lot of women who want to get breast implants but arent sure, do you think there is a misconception when it comes to getting breast implants or breast augmentation?
Well, today there isn’t as much ridiculing going on. Plastic surgery has become less taboo. I think women do embrace it because they do get it done for the right reasons. They know what they want, they know that it is something they can invest in their physique. Sometimes women do have reservations about the surgery but the thing is if you are healthy and relaxed, you don’t have any serious health issues and you see your physician beforehand, surgery is not going to hurt you. I used to be afraid of surgery as well but God forbid if I was in a car accident or something that caused me to go under without my consent, I would have to have surgery. You usually wake up from it. Some people have to have surgery and there isn’t anything they can do about it. It’s not as hard as you think it as once you get it the first time.
You have had your implants for 13 years. During the show you mentioned that you started facing some symptoms, was this the main reason why you decided to have them removed?
So, I’ve breast implants for 13 years but that was my fourth augmentation, so my third or fourth set at this point. The thing that made me take them out was the sagging and drooping and a lot of the breast implant illness. At the same time, there were some rocky hard areas in portions of my implants so it was just best to have them removed.
What type of symptoms were you facing?
A lot of mental fogginess, mood swings, panic attacks, diarrhea. I had really bad headaches, blurred vision, just all these things to make me feel like, what am I doing? What is going on? Until I stumbled upon the Breast Implant Illness list, I didn’t know what was bothering me. I would spend thousands of dollars going back and forth to the doctors because I couldn’t figure out what was going on. They would tell me, oh you’re fine, there isn’t anything wrong in your blood there isn’t anything wrong in your system. They couldn’t find anything.
It is really scary when you know something is wrong with you but the doctors can’t find anything?
Yeah, I even did this one test where I had them check for poisoning because I thought, well maybe there is something in my body that is poisoning me and I thought maybe it was the implants. They checked for poison and toxins and there wasn’t anything, even that result came back clear.
They didn’t prescribe you any medicine? They just sent you home to sleep on it?
Yes, it happened year after year after year. It was one of the hardest times of my life. I knew I was making it up because I was sick every day. I was getting to the point where list or no list I was going to get my implants out because I could not figure out what was wrong with me and at some point, the implant started to irate my skin. I was already on to something but the list is what confirmed it for me. It was like to go ahead and get these things out.
During your episode of Botched, you mentioned there would be a difference between you being the HBIC and being organic. Can you elaborate on that?
To tell you the truth, when I came on The Flavor Of Love and I Love New York season one, it was me all-natural. Then when I did I Love New York season 2 is when I got the implants. So, the majority of the time I was out I had the implants, so I knew I would be altering my character as far as having the implants taken out. Is it a drastic difference? No. Some people don’t even realize I have had the implants removed.
How long would you say the healing of removing the breast implants took?
It takes years for the body to heal but overall you’ll be able to get back to work and feel like yourself within 3 weeks to a month. You just have to keep up with your health and maintain yourself but it isn’t that long.
How do you feel now that the implants are out?
I feel 100% better. The fog is gone. I’m not having any anxiety attacks, my diarrhea is gone. Everything that was plaguing me and making me less excited for my next day is gone. Some days I would wake up thinking I would die. I don’t have that anymore so I feel so much better.
What would you tell someone who is struggling with the decision to get a breast augmentation?
Well if you are struggling with it and have those reservations it could be for a reason. For me, every time I got my Brest implants I was excited about it. If there isn’t an overall excitement about it and you just can sleep at night because you can’t wait for your surgery then maybe you should hold off on it. You should feel good and solid about your decision and it should be nothing less than excitement for you.
I want to switch gears to Bruch With Tiffany. First of all congratulations on season two, who has been your favorite guest thus far?
That is a difficult question and I’m not even trying to be corny or cliche. Everybody who I’ve sat down with has given me themselves. They were so open and I enjoyed sitting down with everyone but I would say, Cyn Santana. I have to give it to her because she was so vulnerable about her breakup and she got a little bit emotional. Everyone around was also getting emotional. So for her to open up like that was unexpected.
We miss you on our tv screens have you thought about coming back to the world of reality television?
I turned down a lot of reality programs over the summer but I did sign on for a few so you guys will be seeing me in 2020 on some projects that are already shot and ready for television. I’m also going to be shooting a couple of new things. I’m definitely making my way back to reality television and I’m excited about the new projects I signed on for.
What is your decision-making process on choosing what project you will sign on for?
It’s simple now and days. It’s like do I want to do this for this many hours? Is it going to be hard? The days of me doing reality tv for like 24 hours straight, it’s like right now I’m not in the mood. I try to figure out if the project is something I can shoot then go home and if it’s easy and quick for me than that’s how I gauge it. I also think about if the project feels right. If it doesn’t feel right or if its something I don’t see myself wanting to do day after day then I have to say no
