Former contestants on The Swan share horrors behind the scenes of 'most sadistic' makeover show

A woman who appeared on one of the most notorious reality shows of the 2000s says she nearly lost her life during recording.

Kari Bravata was a contestant on The Swan, the Fox show that took women who saw themselves as 'ugly ducklings' and gave them extreme plastic surgery makeovers before crowning one a winner.

Speaking ahead of a new Hulu documentary revisiting the show, Bravata claimed she stopped breathing properly after her operations, telling Page Six she 'almost died for reality TV' after her lungs filled with fluid and she had to be put on oxygen.

She alleged the crew were cleared out of her room once complications set in. "I was never told details of what happened," she said. "It's scary that I'll probably never know."

The new documentary, The Swan: Behind the Mirror, lands on Hulu on September 29 and features several former contestants describing what happened once the cameras stopped rolling on the original show, which ran for eighteen episodes between April and December 2004 and pulled in nine million viewers at its peak.

The Swan, created by Nely Galán, matched ordinary women with plastic surgeons, dentists, trainers and therapists, promising to rebuild both their bodies and their 'inner beauty.'

What contestants weren't told, according to the documentary, was that the process would end in a televised pageant against each other.

Director Erin Lee Carr said the format amounted to telling contestants, "You're ugly, and we're gonna make you pretty - but then, we're gonna make you compete until you're still good enough."

Carr called it "one of the most sadistic reality shows of all time." Galán declined to take part in the new documentary.

Did Swan contestants get hurt during filming?

Carr said contestants underwent as many as fifteen procedures in a single surgical session, then were pushed into gym workouts while still recovering, ahead of their on-camera reveal just three months later.

Former contestant Kristy Garza, now 45, said she still isn't sure exactly what was done to her.

"I know that they tweaked my eyes, I know I had a little bit of fat transfer here and there - but I couldn't even tell you the exact surgeries I had," she said.

Garza said aftercare was 'mediocre,' with contestants left to change each other's bedding and fetch ice packs. She claimed nobody quit the show because producers warned them they'd owe money for surgery they couldn't afford.

'I was scared to death,' she said, adding that most other contestants felt 'trapped' too.

(Hulu)

The fallout reportedly continued long after filming wrapped. Garza said poorly fitted veneers led to tooth decay underneath, and she's since had six teeth pulled. Other contestants described complications such as ruptured breast implants that they had to pay to fix themselves, with no follow-up support offered by the show.

Despite everything, both women said they don't regret appearing on the show. Bravata said she'd 'do it again,' calling it 'an adventure,' while Garza said she refuses 'to be a victim.'

Carr suggested the show was ahead of its time, saying it was a 'harbinger' of today's culture of filler and weight-loss drugs.

UNILAD has approached Fox for comment