Heidi Montag: My Surgeries Aren't an Addiction

The Hills star says she still looks like herself – just a "different, improved version"

Photo: Art Streiber

Under fire for the staggering number of cosmetic procedures she’s recently undergone, Heidi Montag now says she isn’t addicted to plastic surgery – she just wants to be as beautiful as she can be, inside and out.

Asked on Tuesday’s Good Morning America for a response to those who say she is addicted, Montag, 23, replied: “I would say that none of those people know me at all, and that’s just a judgment. I’m not addicted. If I were addicted, I would have had 10 plastic surgeries.”

What she had, actually, was 10 procedures on the same day, back in November. This followed a previous surgery three years ago. In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Montag admitted she was “beyond obsessed” with having work done.

She is now backing away from that notion.

Asked why she would want to look like a Barbie doll, Montag replied: “I think I look like myself. I think I just look like a different, improved version of myself.”

Many observers are upset with the message that’s sent to young girls when an already attractive 23-year-old chooses to undergo so many alterations. But Montag says it’s her life – and in her line of work, alterations can be necessary.

She added: “I’m living in my skin, and I look in the mirror and it’s my career and my life, and you only have one. So, I want to take advantage of everything and be the best me, in and out, every way.”

PeopleTV: Watch Heidi s Total Transformation