Pop star and actress Cher has inspired a Cullingworth woman to go under the surgeon's knife.

Jane Saboula, of Mowbray Close, has had a facelift, breast enlargement and eye bags removed, spurred on by the performer who is no stranger to plastic surgery.

"Cher was my inspiration," said Jane, who last year married the Moroccan detective who helped her get over a vicious knifepoint attack which happened when she moved to Africa to start a new life.

Jane, who's in her forties, added: "Looking at Cher and knowing she's older than me I thought 'that's not fair."

But she said the surgery has given her a new lease of life and greater self-esteem and confidence.

"I'll go to places I wouldn't go before. I wouldn't go to a disco for 18-year-olds but I'm more prepared to go to clubs. And I used to hide behind my hair and hands before."

It took 'a few thousand pounds,' five hours on the operating table and six weeks of recovery to achieve her new look.

She had the facial surgery and breast enlargements - taking her from a size B to D cup - done in the same operation.

"I looked like I'd gone a round with Mike Tyson. I looked terrible and had to wear dark glasses when I went out."

But she said a young woman trapped in a slightly older body had now been unleashed.

And she added: "I would have had more done if I could afford it - a tummy tuck because I hate my stomach."

Jane, who has a son from a previous marriage, said husband M'Brek Saboula, 30, who she met three years ago, has been supportive.

They met when she went in search of a new life in the sun which turned to terror.

On the day before she began work teaching English at a junior school, a man she had befriended forced his way into her apartment, tied her up, threatened her with a knife and attacked her, leaving her with a broken jaw.

After returning to England, the former telesales worker vowed never to return to Morocco, but changed her mind the following year and went back in a bid to come to terms with what had happened.

She was met at the airport by M'Brek, a friend, and romance blossomed. They married last year and he moved to Cullingworth to be with her.

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