Terry Dubrow may be missing from Hulu’s new documentary about “The Swan,” but the reason behind his absence is now becoming part of the story.
The plastic surgeon and husband of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” star Heather Dubrow was one of the doctors featured on the controversial reality series, which aired for two seasons on Fox in 2004. More than two decades later, the show is back in the spotlight with The Swan: Behind the Mirror, a new documentary examining the series and its impact.
Dubrow does not appear in the film. In fact, viewers who make it to the end are told that he “declined to be interviewed for this film.”
According to director Erin Lee Carr, however, there was more to the story.
‘The Swan’ Director Reveals Terry Dubrow’s Alleged Asking Price
Carr addressed Dubrow’s absence while speaking with Variety about the documentary, revealing that she did approach the surgeon about participating.
According to Carr, Dubrow “wanted a sum of money that would never make sense for a documentarian to pay an expert.”
She did not disclose an exact figure, but when discussing the amount, Carr indicated that it was “under $100,000 for one interview.”
That ultimately meant the documentary moved forward without him.
Dubrow has not been shy about discussing “The Swan” in the years since its cancellation, which makes his absence from a documentary devoted to the series particularly notable.
The Fox reality show followed women as they underwent extensive physical transformations that could include plastic surgery, cosmetic dentistry, fitness programs and other treatments.
The contestants were then brought together for a pageant at the end of the season. Dubrow served as one of the show’s plastic surgeons alongside Dr. Randal Haworth.
While he did not sit down for Carr’s documentary, Dubrow has previously shared his own memories of what it was like working on the series.
Terry Dubrow Previously Opened Up About His Time on ‘The Swan’
During an appearance on the “We Need to Talk With Paul C. Brunson” podcast, Dubrow revealed that “The Swan” had been headed toward a third season before Fox ultimately pulled the plug.
“We’re casting the third season, and because reality TV was really pushing the envelope at the time, we were going to do some crazy casting. We were going to have triplets,” Dubrow recalled.
The plan would have involved both surgeons operating on the sisters and comparing the results.
“And because there were two surgeons, I was going to operate on two, [Haworth] was going to operate on one, and we were going to see how different they looked,” he said.
The third season never happened. According to Dubrow, the show was canceled after Peter Liguori took over as entertainment chairman at Fox.
Dubrow has also spoken candidly about the sheer amount of surgery involved behind the scenes.
“This was the dawn of a new era both in reality TV and in plastic surgery,” he said during a 2024 Vice TV special. “Even though it was gloriously interesting and exciting and fun, it was exhausting.”
The workload, he said, was unlike anything he would normally experience in his practice.
“I think in the two weeks of everyday surgery that we did, we did something like 200 plastic surgery operations on these patients,” Dubrow recalled. “That was more than [what] a typical plastic surgeon would do in an entire year!”
More than 20 years later, “The Swan” continues to generate conversation about one of reality television’s most unusual eras. This time, though, Dubrow is watching that conversation unfold without sitting down in front of the documentary cameras himself.
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Terry Dubrow’s Alleged Price to Appear in ‘The Swan’ Documentary Revealed