Jenny McCarthy's Transformation Isn't Tied To 'Mar-A-Lago Face,' Expert Says

Fans may have clicked play on "Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen" in January 2026 to get the tea on the status of Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky's complicated relationship, but it was Jenny McCarthy's facial changes that got them talking on social media. Some lamented that she had followed in the footsteps of prominent Republican women in their embrace of the Mar-a-Lago face trend. "She's been MAGAed," one commented.

However, Dr. Brandon Richland, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Richland MD and Richland Aesthetics, told Nicki Swift that her transformation is likely unrelated to politics. Instead, Richland believes that the facial changes seen on McCarthy are a consequence of the health crisis she faced. In 2025, the "Masked Singer" judge had to undergo nine surgeries to fix dental issues caused by a serious bone infection that had on antibiotics for a year. "Those types of intensive oral procedures can absolutely alter the structure of the lower face, causing swelling or changes in how the lips and jaw sit," he told us.

Besides, Richland didn't see the hallmark signs of the Mar-a-Lago face, like overfilled cheeks, plump lips, and tight jawline. "Her recent facial changes seem more tied to the medical trauma and reconstructions she described rather than a deliberate attempt to join that specific MAGA aesthetic seen in prominent political circles," he said. Of course, that doesn't mean that McCarthy doesn't identity with the movement.

Jenny McCarthy has been making controversial comments linking her son's autism diagnosis and vaccines for about two decades, but her growing antivax activism pushed her rightward on the political spectrum. That became ever clearer when the controversial Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was appointed health secretary in the second presidency of Donald Trump and his anti-vaccine and autism views became a government issue. "[I'm] conservative ... There's more questioning authority, less government control, closer to God. It just lined up," she said on the "Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark" podcast in December 2025, emphasizing that RFK Jr. was a big part of her political shift.

Given her passion about her son's health issues, McCarthy's conservatism aligns more clearly with RFK Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" rather than Trump's "Make America Great Again" discourse, so it makes sense that the latter wasn't a big inspiration behind her dramatic facial changes. She has no problems admitting to cosmetic procedures like Botox to combat wrinkles, AirSculpt to get rid of abdominal fat, and breast implants, so it's easy to assume she would be open about anything else she may have done to her face.

Besides, Dr. Brandon Richland told Nicki Swift that, "In my practice, I see a big difference between patients seeking a status-signal look and those whose appearance has shifted due to necessary reconstructive surgery."