Couple on Extreme Makeover: Both Lost 110 Pounds and Had Plastic Surgery

’Extreme’ couple went from altered to the altar
By Suzanne C. Ryan, Globe Staff, 2/5/2004

Preparing for a wedding is always a big ordeal. You want the right dress, the perfect haircut. Of course, you want clear skin and a trim body.

But Susan Sepich and Michael Choquette wanted even more for their nuptials.

Tonight at 9, this Ipswich couple will guest star on ABC’s reality show “Extreme Makeover,” where they will undergo collectively a whopping 23 surgical and cosmetic procedures to get ready for their big day.

Sepich’s procedures included a face lift, an eyelid lift, a nose job, a chin implant, a breast enlargement, a tummy tuck, eye surgery, teeth whitening, and porcelain veneers placed on 17 teeth. She also had hair extensions put in.

Choquette had a nose job, a chin implant, fat injection in his cheek bones, breast reduction, liposuction, laser hair removal, eye surgery, teeth whitening and porcelain veneers placed on six teeth. Oh, and a much-needed haircut and dye job.

Video clips of all the work are included in the broadcast.

The couple revealed their new bodies and faces to each other for the first time at the altar in front of 100 stunned friends and family members. Their wedding was Dec. 14 at Walt Disney World in Florida.

"This was such a great opportunity,” says Sepich, a 42-year-old music and drama teacher at Andover High School. “We would have gotten married anyway. I always thought he looked great. But now I’ve been restored to a normal female.”

Choquette, a 32-year-old civil engineer in Waltham, says, “I’ve never thought too much of the way I looked. I had a very prominent nose and no chin at all. I was almost legally blind so I had to wear glasses. Now I’d say I’m an 8 out of a 10.”

To be sure, this is a superficial world. But did Choquette and Sepich go too far?

Image consultants and psychologists are on the fence.

“I’ve worked with a ton of brides who went on diets and worked with physical trainers before their big day,” says Marilyn Santiesteban, president of the image consulting firm First Impressions in Newton. “I definitely think this is in the far extreme of what most people do. But think of how much better their married lives will be. They feel great about themselves.”

Shari Thurer, a Boston psychologist, is more skeptical. “Americans have this incredible need to reinvent themselves. People see perfect body images on television and then they want that for themselves. It’s brilliant that the show culminates at Disney World because the whole thing is unreal.

“You have to be realistic. Looks are important in society. But they are also superficial. It would be interesting to go back and check in with the couple three years from now. Did they find meaning? Did they find happiness? I have a lot of incredibly beautiful clients who are unhappy. There is not a one-to-one correlation between looks and happiness.”

Choquette and Sepich have been friends for 10 years. They met at a weight-loss support group where they both lost 110 pounds. Choquette trimmed down to 188 pounds and Sepich to 127 pounds. Neither was able to shed the flabby skin that resulted from the weight loss. Sepich investigated plastic surgery but concluded it was too expensive.

On a whim, last summer she downloaded from the Internet the 12-page application for “Extreme Makeover.” Choquette drove her to an open-call audition in Pittsburgh where she taped a three-minute video explaining why she wanted surgery. The producers there became interested in the couple as a package deal because no one had been married on the show before.

“They asked Michael, `Where is this relationship going? Would you be willing to propose on the show? What about getting married on the show?’ “ Sepich recalls.

Choquette agreed to surprise Sepich on her birthday, Oct. 23, with a ring. The couple was then told that ABC would pay for a wedding at Disney World.

Taking two-month leaves of absence from work, the couple traveled to Los Angeles, where they met with a slew of plastic surgeons, dermatologists, dentists, hair stylists, and wardrobe consultants. On the day of Sepich’s first surgery, the couple kissed goodbye and agreed to meet on their wedding day seven weeks later.

Now that it’s over, both bride and groom have no regrets. “Everyone deserves to be able to wear a pair of shorts and not be self-conscious,” says Sepich. “This is the first time in my life that I’m actually looking forward to buying a bathing suit.” Choquette agrees. “We both feel that what’s on the inside is what matters most,” he says. “But when you really don’t like your outside, it’s a wonderful gift to be able to improve it.”

Source: http://www.boston.com/ae/tv/articles..._to_the_altar/