When Dawn Ward turned 50, she promised herself a truly self-indulgent birthday present – a facelift.
Of course she did; no one would expect anything else of the glamorous WAG turned reality television star – one of the original cast of Real Housewives Of Cheshire, no less. A spa break was never going to cut it.
But there was another reason for Dawn, mother to four daughters and nanna (not grandmother) to five granddaughters, to decide it was time to roll back the years.
She’d been invited back on to the show on which she made her name – and countless enemies thanks to her acerbic tongue and forthright views – for its celebratory tenth anniversary.
So, just seven weeks before she was due to face her old foes, and five years after she quit the show amid high drama and decamped to Dubai, Dawn went under the knife. The timing, she admits, was not great.
‘I had the full deep plate facelift which is the most invasive,’ she told the Mail in an exclusive interview.
‘They take skin and pull it back. I’m all about [doing something] if you’re feeling self-conscious. I’ve always been quite skinny, and I always think that people who are very slim age quicker, and I wasn’t liking my neck.
‘I’ve done the fillers, done the skin tightening – so I had some nips and tucks. I’m a big believer in prevention. Obviously people have facelifts in their 50s, 60s or 70s, but I didn’t want to wait until I had loads of loose skin. I thought it would be best to whip it back when I’ve got a little bit more youth on my side.’
Surprise appearance: Dawn Ward before her facelift and how she looked in comeback show
When she made her reappearance on the show last Monday night, however, social media was soon buzzing with talk of her ‘puffy face’.
Dawn had jumped out of a huge white cake (in which, she tells me, she’d had to hide for a full, sweaty, 45 minutes) to huge applause and a cry of ‘The Queen of Cheshire is back!’
Yet some fans didn’t even recognise her. ‘All these people on social media were like, “What’s she done to her face?” and I was like, “I’m swollen, I’ve had a six-hour flight, I’ve been crying…”’
Dawn admits she was overwhelmed to be back. How the rest of the cast feels about her return, however, is yet to be seen.
News of Dawn’s return sent shockwaves through the RHOC production crew when it was announced last month. Even she admits she was worried they wouldn’t ‘let me back on’.
But there was no way that Dawn, the stand-out star of the show which chronicled the lives of a group of wealthy women as they enjoy their champagne-fuelled social lives and indulge in endless tweakments, couldn’t be there for the anniversary special.
Dawn, wife of former Manchester City and Barnsley footballer turned property magnate Ashley Ward, was at the heart of the bitchy rows and bitter fallouts which made the ITV reality show, now in its 18th series, compulsive viewing.
From 2015 to 2020, she found herself at the centre of more on-screen and off-screen dramas than she’d had manicures – allegedly driving at least one of her co-stars to the brink of a nervous breakdown.
Dawn with her husband, former Manchester City and Barnsley footballer turned property magnate Ashley Ward, in 2016
Yet she insists she has nothing but fond memories of the programme, which, she says, she only agreed to do so that her own daughters Darby, now 29, Taylor, 27, Charlie, 18 and 16-year-old Aston could have a platform for their own future fame.
Her planning paid off: the older two are now successful social media influencers, and one is a WAG in her own right.
She’s also thrilled that so many family memories have been captured on the showreel for all to see, including birthdays, vow renewal ceremonies, and even Taylor passing her driving test.
‘I’ve got nothing bad to say about the show,’ she tells me excitedly. ‘To get all the OGs (originals) back in a room, for me that was so iconic.’
Their fights, she insists, were all fuelled by passion.
‘When we fought, we fought because we were upset or we fought because we were passionate, but the friendships were genuine.’ Several original cast members have also returned as guest housewives, including Magali Gorre, Ampika Pickston and Tanya Bardsley.
Whether those friendships extend to Leanne Brown, another original member who has also returned, is a moot point.
Leanne is Dawn’s former best friend and the beautician ex-wife of England and Manchester United footballer Wes Brown.
She had agreed to return for the ten-year anniversary show – on the strict condition that she wouldn’t cross paths with Dawn.
The two women were once inseparable and their lives were more entangled than anyone could imagine if you listen to the gossip that circulates around the well-heeled villages of Cheshire where they both lived.
Yet Leanne quit in 2018 after a ‘monumental fallout’ with Dawn. The details of the row weren’t spelled out, although money – said to be £500,000 for a business deal – was said to have been a factor in what became one of the biggest storylines on the show.
Dawn hasn’t spoken about Leanne for many years but tells me she doesn’t wish her ill.
‘There’s always two sides to the story, I’m not the type of person who wants to harp on about it because I would rather harp on about actual facts but there are no actual facts that are interesting to anybody.
‘So, look … Leanne’s a great mum, we were friends for a long time, and she totally deserves to be back on the show because she was a big part of it … and things move on in life.’
I ask if she misses her. ‘I don’t really think about it, to be honest. I’ve obviously got lots of friends, I’ve got my daughters, I’ve got a lot going on.’
And as for any chance of a reconciliation, the answer is a firm no. Two years ago Dawn and her husband Ashley – to whom she’s been married for nearly 30 years – left Cheshire, and the £6.5 million, Grade II-Listed mansion Warford Hall, with its manicured lawns and dedicated handbag room, where much of the RHOC filming took place – for a new life in Dubai.
Dawn with her former best friend Leanne Brown. The two had a ‘monumental fallout’ in 2018
She and Ashley sold their property after encountering a few financial problems. They had lived there with their four daughters, but while there were murmurings of money problems, Dawn is still living the high life. In fact, when we spoke she was enjoying herself at a beach club in Dubai.
There was, though, another motivation behind the move.
In 2022 she was in court to face charges of racially aggravated harassment against two Jewish men after a row at Euston station.
She was also charged with possession of cocaine, after the drug was found in a cigarette box in her bag – which Dawn claimed had been put there by her housekeeper. She was subsequently cleared of all charges.
Dawn says that it changed her life for ever – and left her with PTSD. ‘It wasn’t just difficult but it changed me as a person, if I’m being honest. They were totally made-up lies. Thankfully 12 members of the jury found me not guilty. But it really affected my health and changed me as a person. I would have never been in that position had I not been on television. As much as we had all the highs it was really difficult.
‘I never thought I could love my husband as much as I did – my kids and my husband,’ she says, choking back tears.
‘It was really quite bad but justice prevailed. I had a strong family but actually the funny thing is, you see someone on the television being all strong, arguing but actually I’m still a human being.
‘It was really quite tough but I’ve come through that now.’
Nowadays, Dawn is a committed and devoted grandmother. Not that Dawn likes the word ‘grandmother’. ‘Say Nanna,’ she scolds me. ‘I always say “Don’t say grandmother, it makes me look old!”’
While her time on the current series is short – she only appears in three episodes – she’d never rule out a return to the show, and to Cheshire.
‘We have the memories that we’ve had, we made our stamp,’ she adds. ‘Never say never.’
