Megan Barton-Hanson reveals she was bullied for her looks but after plastic surgery she has turned into the 'Alan Sugar of stripping'

Megan Barton-Hanson has said going under the knife helped her from being bullied as a teen for her looks, to transform into the 'Alan Sugar of strip clubs'. 

The former Love Island star, 30, first went under the knife at the age of 19 for a double surgery, a nose job and a breast augmentation. 

Megan, who rose to fame on the 2018 series of the ITV dating show, confessed she was bullied for her nose and sticky-out-ears in school which prompted her to change her appearance.

After 'barely being able to afford a train ticket to work' in London from Essex, Megan opened up to dating expert Paul Carrick Brunson for his We Need To Talk podcast.

Paul, 50, asked: 'You've had your ears pinned back, first procedure, then you have your breasts done. What drove you to get your breasts done at that age?'

Megan, from Essex, admitted: 'I'll be brutally honest - money.

'I had no issues, I was quite body confident with my natural boobs but there was this girl and she was on social media making a lot of money basically doing Page 3, but she was her own boss.

'I remember saying to my first boyfriend, 'babe, she's making so much money, don't you think I'm prettier, I could definitely do that if I had bigger t**s'.

'I wanted my nose done, that was another thing from school kids would pick on.

'I hate being put to sleep so I'll get my t**s done, the nose done, all in one and I can make so much money, either on social media, or back then, Page 3 was still a thing.

'I wanted to be a glamour model, a Page 3 girl.

'I was working in London and it was minimum wage, barely affording my train ticket to commute from Essex to London.

'I was like, this can't be what life is, surely.'

Megan was working as a Legal PA at the time, but decided to invest in breast surgery.

After this, the reality star began to flaunt her new look through scantily clad pictures on Instagram and quickly racked up a huge following before her Love Island fame.

Six years on, she now has 1.4 million followers, she shared: 'I've got a lot to thank for Instagram, just posting more sexy pictures. The likes started growing.'

As her social media account took off, the reality TV star then turned to a strip club to further boost her finances.

She explained: 'I was earning really bad money at the law firm, it wasn't worth the hours I was putting in. I had no money to spend at the weekend.

'I was investing in my looks but what I was making on Instagram wasn't enough to survive on. I'd walk past the strip club and the girls outside looked so happy, they were laughing. They were glamorous as f**k.

'I didn't even tell my parents, I just walked in and said 'hi, can I have a job?'

'I'd never stepped foot in a strip club, I just knew they looked happy and like they had loads of money, and that was what I wanted.

'I was being sexualised by the trainee solicitors, the solicitors. The way they would look at me, the little things they would say, so in my mind, if you're gonna sexualise me when I'm dressed in a pencil skirt and tights on minimum wage, I'm gonna go and be sexualised where I can make so much money and I can be my own boss. So that's what I did.

'For the first year, I thought I'd made it. I thought I was Alan Sugar.'

 Discussing working at the strip club, Megan explained: 'It was really freeing. They were some of the best memories of my life, working in that strip club.

'It gave me a sisterhood I'd never had with girls. Growing up, when the girls ostracised me, for no fault of my own, for being bullied by a much older boy…these girls could tell, I was very geeky and shy.

'They were so lovely. I'd never felt that sisterhood, ever in my life, it was lovely.'

Megan soared to fame on season five of Love Island, finishing in fourth place with Wes Nelson.

They ultimately split five months after the show ended, with Megan later claiming Wes prioritised money and career over her.

Earlier this year, Megan spoke exclusively to the Mail's podcast Straight to the Comments! where she detailed their relationship now.

Megan revealed: 'Yeah, we're like civil, we're friends. If I saw him [Wes] out, I'd chat to him.'

Elsewhere in the chat, Megan - who came out as bisexual in 2019 - detailed the difference between her romantic relationships with women and men.

She explained: 'I try not to look at gender. I think for me it's more about the connection I have with someone. If they're bringing something to my life, they're making me a better version of myself, and they're just a nice person.'

Reflecting on her past romances she added: 'I've dated so many a**holes, I'm just open; if they're a girl, a guy, it doesn't matter to me.'

While Megan is believed to be single, she sparked dating rumours in September when she was seen kissing Instagram model Leah Ray.

Her last known relationship was with TOWIE star Demi Sims, who she split from in 2023, four years after meeting on reality show Celebs Go Dating.

Megan uses her platform to promote sex-positivity and revealed that she's passionate about speaking out about sex because she was 'badly slut-shamed' at school.

The OnlyFans model previously confessed she 'carried a sense of shame around' because her friendship group were so judgmental, and those feeling continued when she was given 'such a hard time in the villa' for being a sex worker.

The reality star admitted: 'At school, I was badly slut-shamed and I carried a sense of shame around with me about it. I think that's why I'm so outspoken now...

'I think I've been given this platform... It was never my intention to come out [of Love Island] and speak so openly about sex and female pleasure.

'I think I was just given such a hard time in the villa, when I was in there, for being a sex worker or for having sex with two guys on television.

'And now I've come out I've really come into my own. I'm so passionate about speaking about this. And for years I so much shame, which is why I'm so outspoken about it now.'