Julie Chen revealed one of her most closely held secrets on national television this week when she boldly announced that she had facial reconstructive surgery before she found fame. During a segment of The Talk, which she co-hosts, each of the panelist revealed their biggest secrets and Chen's was perhaps one of the most shocking of all.

Julie Chen
Julie underwent the surgery before she found fame

The 43-year-old TV host admitted that around twenty years ago she made the conscious decision to make her "Asian eyes" look bigger for TV. On Wednesday's (11 Sept.) edition of The Talk, Chen admitted she underwent the surgery with the support of her family when she was learning her trade as a young local anchor in Dayton, Ohio. She explained on the show, "You know, my mom calls one auntie, my father calls an uncle...it spread to my entire family. It divided the family. Members of my family wanted to disown me if I got it done."

In spite of the rift if caused within the Chen family, Julie claimed to be truly proud of her Chinese heritage and said that she holds no regrets for her past. Later in the week, Chen went on to explain herself further, with a statement from her publicist telling Us Weekly on Friday, 13 September, that she was readying herself for a torrent of abuse form online commentators, but ended up pleasantly surprised by the amount of positive reception that she received instead.

Julie Chen Les Moonves
Julie with husband Les Moonves

"I felt vulnerable and nervous that the haters who hide behind their computers on the Internet would come out and say mean things," she told the magazine in her statement. "I was pleasantly surprised by all the supportive emails, tweets, and postings from our show's viewers who are not Asian but told me they understood my story. To them I say thank you."

Julie Chen Emmys
Her revelation was a brave move