Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
A man who has undergone 30 cosmetic operations to look like Ricky Martin has claimed that he is “even prettier” than the ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca’ hitmaker.
Francisco Mariano Javier Ibanez, who hails from the city of Benavidez in the Argentinian province of Buenos Aires, underwent the series of ops after being told he resembled the Puerto Rican pop star a long time ago.
However, despite undergoing the dramatic transformation to appear like Martin, Ibanez recently discovered that it is best to “just be yourself” and that it took him a long time to realise it.
He appeared on the Argentine TV show ‘Mananisima’ on 31st May where he spoke about the 30 operations he underwent to look like the ‘She Bangs’ pop star.
Francisco said: “I did my nose, chin, lips… I wanted to look like Ricky Martin, but the truth is, I ended up prettier than him!”
When asked why he was so desperate to look like Martin, he said: “Because of the sense of belonging we all have.
“And at that time, I didn’t have the distinction of saying ‘I have to be the best version of me’.
“I thought about who everyone likes and, yes it’s true, people told me that I kind of resembled him. So I believed them.”
Francisco previously stated: “I got a photo of Martin, I realised that I liked him and, like everything in life, when I like something, I go for it.
“Now I am able to realise that the ideal thing is to be yourself, not someone else. But It took a while to realise that.”
Francisco said he is not addicted to surgery, but rather to “how you feel after it.”
He added: “I think that, at some point in your life, addiction develops and then it gets worse.”
Francisco spoke about his mental state at the time of the procedures, saying: “When I started to get operations, I knew that things were getting out of hand and that there were things that were not healthy for me.”
In the past, The Ricky Martin lookalike opened up about his shame at being diagnosed with obesity at the age of 12.
He said: “A year passed without me leaving my room.”
Francisco claimed his overeating was his defence mechanism against his dad’s violence, revealing that he still has “scars on his body from the blows he received.”
He added: “I ate because I felt that the day my father wanted to kill me with a knife, he was not going to touch me because the fat was going to stop it, and he wasn’t going to be able to kill me.”
As to why his dad was so violent with him, he said: “I have been gay since I was a kid, and that was his greatest torture.
“I will never forget the day that he found me, I was combing my sister’s hair, and he grabbed an iron and broke it over my head.”
These days, Francisco is a qualified ontological coach, specialising in neurosciences.
He gives online sessions, where he encourages his clients to “develop the best thing you have” and to “go on the right path”.
