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An Argentinian man who has undergone 30 cosmetic operations to look like Ricky Martin has finally admitted that he has an addiction to surgery.
Francisco Mariano Javier Ibanez, from Benavidez, Buenos Aires, had previously claimed that he was not addicted to surgery, but rather to "how you feel after it".
However, in a recent interview on Argentinian TV channel Cronica HD, the Ricky Martin lookalike acknowledged the surgery as an addiction for the first time.
Ibanez, who is believed to be 33-year-old,, said: "I think that, at some point in your life, addiction develops and then gets worse.
“When I started to get operations, I knew that things were getting out of hand and that there were things that were not healthy for me."
Ibanez, who has spent over £7,290 on cosmetic procedures, said his desire to look like Ricky Martin started a long time ago, when people remarked that there was a resemblance between him and the Puerto Rican singer.
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He said at the time: "This started a long time ago, when they told me I had an air of Ricky Martin. I took it as a joke, but I started to make some changes and the likeness increased."
Ibanez then decided to go all the way, saying: "I got a photo of him, I realised that I liked him and, like everything in life, when I like something, I go for it. Now I am able to realise that the ideal thing is to be yourself, not someone else. But It took a while to realise that."
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The Ricky Martin lookalike started on cosmetic surgery after battling with obesity at the age of 12 and revealed how he was attacked by his father.
Ibanez said "a year passed without me leaving my room" following the diagnosis.
He also said that overeating was his defence mechanism against his dad's violence, revealing that he still has "scars on his body from the blows he received".
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Ibanez elaborated: "I ate because I felt that the day my father wanted to kill me with a knife, he was not going to touch me because the fat was going to stop it, and he wasn't going to be able to kill me."
He revealed his father’s violence to him started when he found out he was gay after he caught him combing his sister’s air.
When his father saw him innocently helping his sister, Ibanez claims “he grabbed an iron and broke it over my head."
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These days, Ibanez is a qualified ontological coach, specialising in neurosciences. He gives online sessions, where he encourages his clients to "develop the best thing you have" and to "go on the right path".
Ibanez looks like a completely different person these days, but he had previously told reporters that he was still not used to his new body after seven years of changes.
He made the admission after appearing on a 2018 Argentinian weight loss reality show called 'Cuestion de Peso' ('A Matter of Weight'), during which he lost over 90kg (198 lbs).
Ibanez told the news website TeleShow at the time: "When I went in, I had hypertension, high glucose and muscle aches. As a result of having lost weight, nothing has ever hurt again and I have stopped feeling bad.
"But such a change in life has scared me a bit. It has been a bit like starting everything from scratch. Even today, seven years later, it is still difficult for me to get used to my new body. People tell me 'you are divine, look at what you were like before', but it is not that easy."
- Plastic Surgery
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