Bestselling author Marian Keyes admits her youthful looks are down to Botox and fillers 

She’s spoken frankly about depression and recently dismissed male authors as a waste of time.

Now bestselling author Marian Keyes has made what some might judge her most controversial statement yet – admitting that her youthful good looks are the result of Botox and fillers.

‘I get it done approx every nine months,’ the 56-year-old told her 200,000 Twitter followers last week, after she posted a picture of herself online. 

‘It wouldn’t be fair to pretend that it was down to drinking lots of water and staying out of the sun!’

Her honesty will delight many women who use similar procedures but regard the subject as taboo.

The author of Lucy Sullivan Is Getting Married and This Charming Man has sold more than 33 million copies of her books since she first made her name with Watermelon in 1995.

Her latest admission followed an appearance on the Chris Evans radio show to promote her latest novel, Grown Ups. 

Impressed by her flawless complexion, one fan asked: ‘HOW do you look so young Marian?? How? Tell us your secret.’

Whereupon Ms Keyes not only revealed her trick but also confessed that she regularly has her ‘marionette’ or ‘laughing lines’ injected with filler to reduce the appearance of wrinkles.

‘Well I admire your honesty,’ replied the fan, taken aback. ‘I love that you openly admit to Botox and fillers,’ replied another. 

‘I applaud that. Makes a refreshing change.’

Ms Keyes has previously spoken about suffering severe depression, announcing in a 2010 newsletter to fans that the ‘catastrophic’ condition had left her unable to read, write, or talk.

Earlier this month, she declared that she only reads books written by women because she feels men’s lives are ‘so limited’.

At a Southbank Centre event to promote Grown Ups, she said reading male authors was ‘a small and narrow experience’.

She added: Their literature just really can’t match anything written by a woman. I just think, ‘f*** off’. I’m tired of women being treated as second-class writers. If a man is really, really good and I can believe the glowing reviews have any basis in fact, then I’ll read the occasional one, but not really, no, not when there’s so many fabulous women.’

Ms Keyes has not always endorsed cosmetic interventions. On turning 50 in 2013, she wrote of Botox, which temporarily paralyses the muscles of the face, reducing wrinkles: ‘I haven’t had Botox because my face is a bit lopsided and I depend on keeping everything animated so that people don’t notice.’

Of fillers, she added: ‘Regarding the filler, Restylane, I had one disastrous go seven years ago, where a lump, like a baby unicorn horn, sat between my eyebrows for three months, so I’m not doing it again.

‘Wrinkles-wise, my face isn’t too ravaged. This I put down to drinking two litres of water a day… and using colossally expensive skincare (I’m a big fan of Crème de la Mer).’

Her husband, Tony, meanwhile, had also taken a strong stance against the treatments.

In January 2018, she posted a video a clip of the couple on a snowy mountain and wrote: ‘FOR THE LOVE OF FECK!!!! WHAT I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH AND HE WON’T EVEN LET ME GET BOTOX (‘It’ll ruin your little face’)’.

What he now thinks, she leaves her readers guessing.