Linda Evangelista ditches mask for the first time since opening up about botched surgery

Former supermodel Linda Evangelista doesn’t want to hide anymore and was photographed without a face covering for the first time on Thursday after claiming that she was left ‘permanently deformed’ from a botched cosmetic procedure.

Evangelista was snapped without a face mask on Thursday in New York City, days after gracing the cover of People magazine in which she opened up about her experience with a fat-freezing procedure which she says left her ‘disfigured’.

The 56-year-old model was seen in a casual black sweater with black pants as she strolled in Chelsea Markets, reported Page Six.

Talking to the magazine earlier, Evangelista opened up about undergoing an FDA-approved, fat-freezing procedure named ‘CoolSculpting’, in 2015.

The supermodel shared that she noticed ‘bulges’ at all the places that she wanted to shrink within three months of the treatment sessions. The bulges then hardened and eventually turned numb.

Promoted as a non-invasive alternative to liposuction, CoolSculpting instead left Evangelista ‘brutally disfigured’ after she had seven sessions.

"I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know. I can't live like this anymore, in hiding and shame. I just couldn't live in this pain any longer. I'm willing to finally speak,” Evangelista said.