Social media influencer Oli London — who briefly identified as transgender — is crediting his relationship with Jesus for stopping him from undergoing surgeries that would have irreversibly damaged his body.
London made the comments on the “Triggernometry” podcast.
The 32-year-old celebrity, who has undergone plastic surgeries to look more like Korean pop stars, said his awakening came as he sat in the back of a church service. He told the podcast’s cohosts Francis Foster and Konstantin Kisin he heard a voice in his head telling him to stop his vain pursuit and enjoy who he was created to be.
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He then began attending church more regularly, he said, and started to read the Bible.
As he drew closer to Christ, London said he stopped pursuing “all these crazy things, because, at the end of the day, it’s not fulfilling me; it’s not giving me happiness. It’s harming me, it’s harming other people.”
The YouTuber learned his external features were not important and soon “regretted” his past choices.
It was in church London realized many celebrities and media personalities are pushing people struggling with body dysmorphia into undergoing an unending litany of surgeries, rather than telling them to be comfortable and confident with who they are or encouraging them to make healthy lifestyle changes.
Reflecting on his own past work as an influencer, London was also concerned he was contributing to the problem, by indirectly encouraging people “to have surgeries.” Now, he uses his platform to warn people of the dangers of identifying as transgender or trying to look more like a different ethnicity.
He told Foster and Kisin his pursuit of Jesus stopped him from making even more drastic changes to his body.
“I could have done more to myself,” he said. “I was going to go to Thailand and do body surgery. I could have died, and I would have also been left with deep regret for the rest of my life.”
Last November, London made similar comments to the Catholic News Agency.
“This actually kind of saved my life,” he said of starting to go to church, where he learned to “accept” himself the way God made him. “It’s brought me back to who I am as a person, finding God.”
In his early 30s, London has had 32 plastic surgeries to alter his body. But now he’s working on returning to his natural physical appearance, before all the cosmetic work.
That shift began in August of last year, when the social media personality walked into a Catholic church.
After undergoing so many surgeries to look more like a woman, London — a male — said he began to realize, “You know what, God made me a certain way, God made me who I am. Why on earth would I want to change that? Why am I going for all these extreme procedures? This is not how God made me; this is not what I was meant to be in life.”
He told CNA he is planning to get baptized soon.
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