Media personality, reality star, and TV host Claudia Jordan recently opened up about having cosmetic surgery on her feet due to developing corns and hammertoes over the years.
In an interview with BET, the 49-year-old detailed her journey to improving the appearance of her feet and boosting her own confidence.
“I’ve been trying to hide and cover these corns for decades!” she expressed. “I finally went to a doctor eight years ago for a consultation, but the process seemed so barbaric to me that I never followed up with the surgery.”
Jordan’s feet woes date back to when she was a teenage athlete and model. She also credits wearing heels at only 14, and years of “rubbing and chafing,” as the cause of thick calluses on her pinky toes.
“I was running track, long jumping, and spending a lot of time in my competing sneakers, which are called spikes,” she shared. “During these exercises, there was a lot of trauma to my toes. Then I started modeling when I was 17. Although I was a size 9.5 shoe, on several occasions I was styled in shoes as small as a size 7.5!”
The Fox Soul host added, “For 8-hour days on set, my toes were crammed in a very unnatural and uncomfortable position. It was awful! After years of this, my toes became deformed and in a permanently clenched position. This is what hammer toes are. It’s when your toes are actually deformed on the skeletal level and it takes surgery to fix it.”
For the majority of the reality star’s life, her feet have played a part in her insecurities when it came to being on television, shopping for shoes and even dating. She even mentioned that she would have to disclose to guys that she was “only cute from the ankles up.”
“The pressure actually came from myself,” she said. “When I would start dating someone, I would automatically feel like I had to disclose that I was only cute from the ankles up. I struggled to find sandals to hide my corns, which became harder and harder over the years. It’s really shocking how limited the shoe options are that hide corns, especially when so many women suffer from them.”
She continued, “I don’t really get embarrassed often, but it is something I had become self-conscious about, especially after I shared my story on Real Housewives of Atlanta. I still get made fun of about a scene on a reality show that aired eight years ago. If someone wants to argue with me online, the first thing they do is talk about my toes.”
For those wanting to avoid a $2,000 to $10,000 cosmetic surgery on their feet, Jordan says the best thing to do is “to not sacrifice your comfort for vanity.”
“Some of these shoes that cost the most money are the most damaging to our poor little toes,” she declared. “Now, I go for more open-toe shoes where my feet can breathe and not be so constricted. I also wear sneakers a lot more. I show my feet more love.
“I also learned never to use over-the-counter corn removal pads! They contain acid that burns away the corn, but it also is very damaging to your skin—especially for darker skin tones.”
Jordan is now geared up and excited to show off her new toes this Summer.
“I cannot wait to wear pretty sandals this summer without being self-conscious and feeling the need to curl my toes up every time I see someone looking down at my feet,” she anxiously said.