Why Did Carrie Underwood's Lips Look So Different At The ACM Awards?

Carrie Underwood has come a long way since her American Idol days. Following her iconic win on the hit singing competition show in 2005, the Oklahoma native catapulted into country music stardom almost immediately. Underwood has consistently churned out No.1 hits throughout her career and appeared on the Hot 200 and Hot 100 charts multiple times, per Billboard. With the country star's many millions of fans around the world, it didn't take long for her loyal subjects to pick up on her seemingly different lip shape when she appeared at the 2020 American Music Awards on September 16, 2020. Speculation ramped up on social media when The "Jesus Take the Wheel" singer performed at the Tennessee-based ceremony, with some commenters speculating that she may have recently undergone a cosmetic procedure on her lips. This isn't the first time Underwood has had to face online speculation about alleged cosmetic procedures or plastic surgery. For those who don't know, Carrie Underwood made headlines after suffering what she described as a "freak accident" in 2018, falling down the stairs outside of her home in Nashville. The accident reportedly resulted in a broken wrist and over 40 stitches to her face. After seeking medical attention, the "Before He Cheats" singer broke the news to her fan club members, saying, "Even though I've had the best people helping me, I'm still healing and not looking quite the same. When I am ready to get in front of a camera, I want you all to understand why I might look a bit different." Although Underwood arguably looked different after hiding away from cameras to recover, her face was still the portrait of perfection when she did return to the public eye. New York plastic surgeon Dr. David Shafer gave Life & Style magazine some insight into the potential procedures Underwood might have done to restore her look, explaining, "There are many ways to improve scars to help smooth the contour, blend the color and reduce shadowing. At my office, we treat scars with laser, microneedling, topical treatments, injecting medications and using dermal filler to smooth the contour." We can't know for sure if the singer underwent any cosmetic procedures on her lips before the ACM Awards in 2020 — and we probably won't unless Underwood herself speaks out about it. In the meantime, fans can focus their attention on her incredible music and career. After her accident, which left Underwood with facial stitches and a broken wrist, the country star spoke about the experience and subsequent rumors in an interview with Redbook in August 2018. Underwood explained that immediately after her accident, she had no idea how her face was going to heal. She shared, "Any time someone gets injured, it looks pretty bad in the beginning, and you're like, 'What is this going to wind up like?' You just don't know." But she realized that she was being her own worst critic and commented, "Nobody else looks at you as much as you think they do. Nobody notices as much as you think they will, so that's been nice to learn." This may be true for most people. But when you're as famous as Carrie Underwood, plenty of people are bound to look and comment — and in her case, spread rumors. According to USA Today, people even accused her of using her accident as a cover story for plastic surgery. But the country star shut these rumors down. Underwood explained to Redbook, "I'm on some magazine every other week for something crazy. It's a little sad, because the truth is just as interesting. I wish I'd gotten some awesome plastic surgery to make this [scar] look better. But I try not to worry too much about it." Speculation about her appearance continued to persist after her appearance at the 2020 ACM Awards. But not only has Underwood dealt with this before, she's also shared to her fans and followers the lessons she's learned after years of dealing with the scrutiny. She said in an interview with Redbook, "I feel like the most important thing to realize is that even people who seem to be super confident have insecurities that they are dealing with. Honestly, you just do the best you can." Her message of self-love in the midst of insecurity proved useful again after she had her second son, Jacob, in January 2019. Underwood jumped on Instagram in March of that year and shared her postpartum body struggles, admitting that she'd been feeling pretty hard on herself. But she ended her post with a note of resilience, saying, "I'm going to take it day by day, smile at the girl in the mirror, and work out because I love this body and all it has done and will continue to do!" That sounds like an inspirational and worthwhile message of self-acceptance! Watch the video to learn Why Carrie Underwood's Lips Looked So Different At The ACM Awards! #CarrieUnderwood #ACMs