Woman has a 'lunch hour' nose job to look like her idol Michelle Keegan after years of being called 'Big Nose' by bullies

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When Nichola Mahoney was hit in the face by a netball at the age 10, she was horrified.

A large bump grew over the bridge of her nose, and she felt so ugly she cried herself to sleep every night.

The now 23-year-old suffered cruel taunts at school, with bullies calling her 'Big Nose', something which grew to haunt her young life.

Desperate to look like her idol, Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan, she felt bump was the one thing holding her back from happiness.

She even considered asking a friend to deliberately break her nose, so that she could get it fixed and re-shaped for free on the NHS.

Finally, she decided to undergo a 'lunch-hour' nose job, which involves having dermal fillers injected into the skin under the nose to reshape it.

After having the £600 'non-surgical rhinoplasty', she cried tears of joy, and says the procedure improved her confidence and 'changed her life'.

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Nichola Mahoney, 23, had a 'lunch hour nose job' in which dermal fillers were injected under her skin to reshape her face. She was desperate to look like her idol Michelle Keegan, whom she met at a charity ball

Miss Mahoney, pictured before (left) and after (right) the £600 procedure, says she was bullied for years about the bump on her nose and cried herself to sleep every night

At one point, Miss Mahoney contemplated asking a friend to break her nose so she could have it fixed for free on the NHS. She is pictured before (left) and after (right) having the 'non-surgical rhinoplasty'

At a recent charity ball she even met Michelle Keegan, and someone remarked they looked like 'sisters'.

Miss Mahoney, from St Helens, Merseyside said: 'I used to get picked on at school all the time.

'I remember when I was on the netball team in primary school and someone threw a ball really hard at my face.

'It was only after that people began noticing that my nose was different, as it now had a huge hump in it.

'I hit 13 and I suddenly became really aware of how I looked. I'd see pretty girls in the yard, or see women in magazines like Michelle Keegan, and wished I could look like them.

'But, unlike Michelle, I could never even wear my hair slicked back because it would make my nose look even bigger and I'd only ever have my photo taken from the front on, never from the side, in case it made me look ugly.

'It was awful. I used to cry myself to sleep at night.

She says her parents tried to console her, but didn't understand why she was so concerned with the size of her nose.

She said: 'My mum, Sue, and my dad, Paul, always knew that my nose was a massive, massive issue, and they'd try to play it down, saying, "Nichola, get over it, there's more important things in life to worry about".

'But I remember thinking about surgery as far back as when I was 11. I'd look in the mirror and think 

'I'm okay looking, I've got nice hair, I've got a nice figure….but then I've got this nose and it's never going to go away unless I spend £5,000 on serious surgery'.

'I've even had boyfriends in the past who would openly tell me that I've got a big nose. It was soul destroying.

'My friends would tell me not to worry about it. But David Beckham could have walked up and said, "Wow, you've got a really nice nose" and I still wouldn't have believed him.

'I knew in my head how bad it was.'

Miss Mahoney, a personal assistant, couldn't afford a full surgical nose job.

She grew so desperate she even contemplated getting a friend to deliberately break her face, so that she could was eligible for the nose job she wanted on the NHS.

But after seeing the results of the non-surgical rhinoplasty, which took less than half an hour to complete, she cried with happiness.

Miss Mahoney was desperate to look like her idol, Coronation Street actress Michelle Keegan, pictured at the British Academy Television Awards in the Theatre Royal, London, this May

Miss Mahoney cried with joy when she saw the results of the procedure (she is pictured, before, left, and after, right, having it done). 'It's not an exaggeration to say that it has completely changed my life,' she said

'I'm so pleased with the results,' she said.

'After the treatment I came home to my mum and dad and I just burst out crying.

'I couldn't stop looking in the mirror and I was even taking "selfie" pictures of myself - something I'd have never, ever done before.

'I've found fresh confidence and I'm no longer afraid to be seen out in public, as I used to be so paranoid that everyone was looking at my nose.

'It's not an exaggeration to say that it has completely changed my life and I couldn't be happier.' 

Miss Mahoney has since been back to SkinViva, the Manchester salon where she had the procedure done, for more dermal fillers on the tip of her nose, to make it more rounded.

She plans to have the entire process repeated in two years' time so that her face maintains its new shape.

Best of all, she recently met Michelle Keegan at a charity auction at Manchester’s Lowry Hotel, a moment she said was a 'dream come true'.

She said: 'I’m so proud of the way I look now that I even had the confidence to pose for a photo with her.

'I nearly had a heart attack. It was like I’d died and gone to heaven.'