After spending $1 million on surgeries, Alves has announced she is transgender. Photo / Mirrorpix
After spending $1 million on surgeries, Alves has announced she is transgender. Photo / Mirrorpix
Rodrigo Alves is known as the "Human Ken Doll" after spending close to $1 million on cosmetic procedures.
However, the former UK Celebrity Big Brother star has just identified as transgender, saying that while many know her as "Ken", inside she's "always felt like Barbie".
The 36-year-old's addiction to cosmetic surgery began at 17, and since then she has had more than 100 procedures costing roughly £600,000 (NZ$1 million).
Rodrigo Alves, who is known as the 'Human Ken Doll', reveals she has started transitioning from male to female. Photo / Mirrorpix
Alves, has also said she wants to know be known as Roddy with the pronouns "she" and "her", after undergoing hormone injections to create feminine hips.
She now wears a D-cup bra, has blonde hair extensions and fake eyelashes to complete her new look.
"I finally feel like the real me. Glamorous, beautiful and feminine," she told the Mirror.
"For years I tried to live my life as a man. I had a fake six-pack put in, I had fake muscles in my arms, but I was lying to myself.
"I'm a woman and have always had a feminine brain. Now my body matches my mind."
Last year doctors removed her fake six-pack and inserted it into her bum for a bum lift.
Completing her transition
Roddy realised she wanted to transition during a photoshoot in New York a year ago where she was asked to dress in woman's clothes.
A month after returning to the UK, she was referred to a psychologist and psychiatrist where she was later diagnosed with gender dysmorphia disorder and given the option to start the appropriate medication to transition.
Roddy said she will complete her transition next year with gender realignment surgery where she will undergo penile inversion surgery, but before that, she will have silicone breast implants.
"I'll be able to wear dresses that show my cleavage and look sexy. I'm very excited," Roddy told the publication.
She will then have face feminisation surgery that involves an incision at the top of her scalp, allowing doctors to reshape her forehead, give her an eye lift, lip lift and middle face lift.
"I'm having my Adam's apple removed, my jawline shaved and my chin modified," she said.
Roddy, who is from Brazil and lives in London, was recently warned by doctors that her health was at risk after having an 11th nose job to fix a botched procedure.
In 2016, then still known as Rodrigo, her nose became infected after a sixth nose job.
It left her unable to breathe, but despite doctors warning the nose could become gangrenous and would need to be removed, Roddy had five more reconstructive nose jobs, with the most recent in January 2019.
Roddy admitted it took a lot of courage to admit she was transgender with her quest to become a woman dating back to when she was little and dressing in her mum's clothes.
In fact, Roddy had breasts as a child, and when she was 17, she had them removed.
A hormone dysfunction caused her breast tissue to grow at the rate of her female peers and left her with a pair of breasts at the age of 16.
She spent about $3500 on the procedure, which sparked the start of a surgery addiction that has spanned 19 years.
Bullying
She revealed she was bullied at school because of her "femininity", describing it as a "traumatic" experience, and said she continued to face criticism over her changing appearance into adulthood.
"Behind closed doors, I've been living as a woman for the last three months," she said. "I love it and everything that comes with it – going to nice hair salons and getting my nails, eyebrows and eyelashes done. Buying dresses and high heels and wearing sexy lingerie.
"But I have been trolled and called a freak and a weirdo, so of course I am nervous about how people will react," she told the Mirror.
She hopes people will accept her as a woman and not judge or ridicule her.
Roddy believes the bullying led to her success, having moved to London at 20 where she studied public relations at university, followed by a stint on Celebrity Big Brother UKin 2018.
Sex life and dating
Roddy, who is attracted to straight men, said her sex drive had decreased, but it doesn't bother her.
"People always thought I was gay and initially I did too. But I was never gay. I was never into the gay scene. I never had a gay relationship," she said.
"I have always been attracted to straight men because I am a straight woman. I was rarely in relationships, and I don't have much relationship experience.
"Men look at me because they desire me. And women look at me because they want to copy what I'm wearing."
Roddy said it was a completely different type of attention to what she was receiving prior to her transition.
"Before, people looked at me because I looked very androgynous and weird for a man," she said.
"Now I hope they are looking because they think I am a beautiful woman."
