Julie Chen Moonves on the plastic surgery tip she got at 27 — and how she’s learned to embrace aging

It feels like Julie Chen Moonves has always been on our screens, starting out as a news anchor before helming CBS series like The Talk and Big Brother, the latter of which made its debut 25 years ago. As a woman in TV, that high profile has meant being targeted by critics. As we chat for Yahoo’s Unapologetically series, Chen Moonves tells me that she has “developed a thicker skin” over the years, but that wasn’t always the case.

“With Season 1 of Big Brother — even before digital social media, where everyone could be your critic — I dealt with critics,” Chen Moonves says. “That cut deep, but it was a scar that healed, and that battle scar — I feel like I grew from it. It made me stronger. It made me work harder to prove them wrong. So I’m proud of those battle scars.”

And she’s still here, currently hosting the just-launched 27th season of Big Brother. Chen Moonves was just 30 when the reality TV series first premiered; she’s now 55, and credits aging and her career longevity with helping her find “wisdom and security.”

“By the time you’re in your 50s, you know who you are, and you don’t care so much about what other people think,” she notes. “So the wisdom that has come with aging, I love that. The security, the sense of not being insecure anymore. Because, guess what: [Critics] were never thinking about you to begin with; they’re worrying about themselves.”

What else has Chen Moonves learned? Here’s how a makeup artist’s facelift tip helped her make peace with aging — and why she’s happier in sweats than the glam outfits she wears on television.

You mentioned that aging has allowed you to let go of what other people think. Was there a particular turning point that empowered you to do that?

When I turned 40, a few things happened at the same time: Three months earlier, I had just had a child. So when your focus shifts to another human being and their well-being, it takes it off of you. Turning 40, you start thinking, Am I going to lose my vibrancy and what makes me feel attractive or look attractive? Am I going to be viewed as someone who is still youthful? And I began to [take] better care of myself. In your 20s, you take things for granted, and in your 40s, you have to work more at it. I have to move it or I’m going to lose it. So I’d say when I became a mom and turned 40, things started to shift to having a better, healthier approach.

What’s your general approach to aging these days?

My general approach is avoiding the sun, eating right, movement every day, even if it’s just a walk. It’s not just being rigid with diet and exercise. You have to have a balance and have friends and love and relationships in your life. [I’m also] not depriving myself of things that are a guilty pleasure, like a whole sleeve of Pringles.

How has your approach to beauty shifted over time?

My general approach to beauty has completely shifted from when I was in my 20s. It was all about, like, I need a full face of makeup to go out to feel good about myself. As I’ve gotten older, it’s more about — first of all, when you put on makeup and powder, it falls into the little cracks, and it ages you. Now I’m more about good, clean, natural skin with no makeup on and just a little nice lipstick. I have a very pretty, powerful, deep magenta color that I’ll wear year-round; it’s not just for winter. And glowy skin. Taking care of your skin is the most important aspect. And [when] you feel beautiful, you look beautiful.

Given your beauty philosophy evolving, I’m curious how you feel when looking back at old episodes of Big Brother? What do you find yourself focusing on when you see yourself?

I feel very positive about it, and it’s funny, because as you do get older, and you look back, [you think] I was so critical of myself back then. [Now] I’m like, Hey, you know, it’s not so bad. It’s actually pretty good. You learn how to be more forgiving. I like the archive. I like the history of it all. There might be some hairstyles or a fashion choice I made that I go, Maybe that wasn’t the best. But I always look back with fondness.

I know you’ve been open about plastic surgery. What words of wisdom would you share with anyone who’s debating whether it’s for them?

I’d say don’t get carried away, because I have been there — where you feel so transformed, and you’re like, What else can I do? That’s when it gets out of control. When I was 27, I worked with a makeup artist who was 47, and she told me she was getting a lower facelift. And I’m like, “You’re crazy. You don’t need it.” She said, “You need to get it before you need it.” And that stuck with me, because when she came back, I was amazed at how incredible she looked. And it wasn’t obvious. She just looked fresh as a daisy.

So when I got to be around 47 and started researching, that was something I wanted to do psychologically before turning 50. The two years leading up, when I would wake up in the morning, I would feel like, Oh my gosh, gravity is winning this battle, but I have a secret plan. So that was helpful — little tweaks here and there. And you don’t want to look different. You want to look rested.

I’m curious about that psychological piece ahead of turning 50. What did doing the work do for you mentally?

The number may have been 50 on the piece of paper, but I didn’t feel it, and I didn’t feel like I looked like it. And I guess [the plastic surgery] did help me embrace that age. But 50, 60, even 70, I don’t think is a big deal, because my mom is 92, and she doesn’t have a wrinkle on her face, and she’s still spry. She still travels the world. She doesn’t wear makeup going out — maybe earrings and lipstick, and she looks so elegant to me. That’s kind of a window into what is in my future. So I feel good.

That kind of ties into another topic I’d love to explore, which is self-image and identity. How do you feel these days versus, say, your 20s?

I have always been that girl who wears the sweat socks while putting on flip-flops. I was that person in sweatpants in college. I’m still that person, and that person will never go away. That’s who I am at my core. For work, I look at the beautiful clothes that are [picked out] for me as a uniform. That is my professional obligation to represent and to look polished. But [when] I get home like that, makeup, the hair extensions, the false lashes, any fake hair that’s attached to me, that comes off first. I’m scrubbing off the makeup, and then come out in sweatpants, elastic waistbands. I am that person who wants to live in 100% cotton with elasticity around the waist and have on sweatpants and then no heels, something flat: flip-flop with a sweatpant and hair in a bun, a big sweatshirt, and maybe, like a hoodie. Thank God after COVID, athleisure wear became everyday wear.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.