Jess Rowe and Peter Overton’s marriage couldn’t be more beautiful, but she was hiding a huge secret from his for years – Botox!
The mum of two confessed on her LiSTNR podcast The Jess Rowe Big Talk Show that she’s been getting Botox for 17 years now and has no plans to stop.
While some people still think cosmetic procedures promote unrealistic standards for women, Jess says she can keep the wrinkles at bay while still being a feminist.
“My brand of feminism is about supporting the different choices we make,” she revealed.
“I’m not doing it for anyone else, or because every now and then I’m on the telly or because I get my picture taken, I’m not doing it because of pressure, or because of the patriarchy – I’m doing it because I want to do it.”
But that didn’t stop her from keeping it a secret from husband Peter for years on end, sneaking away for injections when he wouldn’t notice.
Jess first started getting Botox when she was 35 as a preventative measure shortly after having her daughters, Allegra and Giselle.
WATCH: Jess Rowe embarrasses her daughters on TikTok
“I didn’t tell anyone, including my husband, and of course he didn’t notice!” she laughed, but confessed that she was “ashamed, embarrassed and vain” at the time.
Those feelings led her to keep the treatments a secret until Peter managed to catch her out in a very unlikely way.
“Petey, who was very organised, he’s very different to me and he has a check list and he likes to go to the mail box,” Jess said.
“He went to the mailbox one morning and there was the receipt from the botox clinic. I had to fess up! He initially was cross.”
The news anchor told his wife the Botox was “a waste of money” and “vain”, but after a brief moment of shame Jess insisted that he was wrong and that she wanted to continue.
After all, if the Botox made her feel a little extra “sparkle”, why not keep it up?
Now Jess is encouraging other women – especially those in the public eye – to be open about their own cosmetic treatments to end the cycle of shame.
She added: “I know that celebrities are lying. They are not drinking green juice… cut that crap – the only reason your skin looks like that is because you’re getting poison in your face. Please be honest about it!”