Harsh diets for ‘non-existent' waists & diva-designers sewing celebs into ‘no-pee' outfits – dark truth of the Met Gala

The Sun

05-05-2025

IT'S fashion's biggest night out - but it's also fashion's wildest.
The Met Gala is upon us - and while us normal folk only see celebrities climb up the iconic stairs in their lavish outfits, storms of drama are unfolding behind the scene.
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The annual event, which is held every year on the first Monday in May, is a charity event and fundraiser (for The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute, hence the name) with a star-studded guest list.
However, it's notoriously hard for celebrities to receive an invite. Take Kim Kardashian, 44, for example, who was snubbed for years and only made her debut when ex-husband Kanye West, 47, invited her as a plus one in 2013.
Year after year, the event raises eight-figure sums and takes on a different theme for celebs to dress in line with. This year's dress code theme is Superfine: Tailoring Black Style.
But it's not all sunshine and rainbows.
In fact, squeezing celebrities and models into their outfits (which cost more than the average person's salary) has proven pretty dark over the years for some.
A former Met Gala stylist has exposed all the dark truth on what it really takes to get these stars into their glad rags and onto the iconic red carpet.
From extreme dieting for non-existent waistlines to diva designers, she revealed all to Fabulous …
No-pee Outfits
One year, Bella Hadid was sewn into an outfit and essentially told to 'shut up and look pretty', according to our Met Gala source, who helped style stars on the carpets for years.
She claims that around the time that the supermodel, 28, was breaking onto the scene, she secured a major designer to dress her for the event.
However, the designer allegedly refused to give the Victoria's Secret Angel a choice in what she wore, telling her 'she wouldn't even be pictured on the red carpet' if she wasn't wearing a big name.
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'Essentially, she just had to shut up and look pretty,' our source claims.
When the designer created an outfit that Bella had to be sewn into, it raised questions on how she was going to be able to go for a wee on the night.
'She had to sit through make-up and do the red carpet and the meal without a wee,' our source says. 'She was too terrified to even drink water and was in pain for holding the pee in.'
Extreme Measures
Kim Kardashian has been very candid about her extreme diet and workout regimes to fit into her mind-boggling Met Gala outfits.
She lost an eye-watering 1st 2lb (7.3kg) in three weeks to fit into Marilyn Monroe's iconic "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" dress for the 2022 event.
The reality-TV star told Vogue: "I would wear a sauna suit twice a day, run on the treadmill, completely cut out all sugar and all carbs, and just eat the cleanest veggies and protein. I didn't starve myself, but I was so strict."
And then again for the 2024 Met Gala, the 44-year-old gave hourglass a whole new meaning by incorporating an extremely tight corset into her metal dress, sparking concerns over her 'non-existent waist'.
Fans were worried the mum-of-four had 'ribs removed' and questioned 'where her guts are stored' after she slipped into a jaw-droppingly tight dress for fashion's biggest event.
It came just a month after Kardashian fans were worried she had 'displaced' her organs after squeezing into a skintight Mugler corset for an Instagram post.
Toilet Sexcapades
Despite spending a whole day having full teams of staff get them into their finery, some celebs are keen to get their kit off as soon as they get to the event.
Our Met Gala source claims that celebrities having sex inside the event is a common occurrence.
Those who want to partake will sneak off to the toilet and leave their glad rags on the floor to get down and dirty.
Celebrities have definitely had sex at the event, in the loos... and it's not with the partners they came with
Former Met Gala Stylist
'It's not always with the partners they came with,' our source says. 'I remember a supermodel did one year, like back in the day.
'And two huge Nineties stars who'd co-starred in a couple of movies together hooked up at the event one year.'
Our source also claims that in one recent year, two young sisters from a big TV show were 'absolutely wasted' and propositioned various male actors for a threesome.
Fashion Under Investigation
At the 2021 event, US politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 35, made headlines when she wore a white dress with the words 'TAX THE RICH' scrawled across the back.
She was placed under investigation by a nonpartisan watchdog on the premise that she may have violated congressional rules by accepting gifts to attend fashion's biggest night.
The probe was centred around the payments for the dress she rented to attend the prestigious event. Alexandria denied any wrongdoing.
The investigation found that she did not pay her £359.35 ($477) hair styling and make-up bills until several months after the event.
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) stated that "there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez accepted impermissible gifts associated with her attendance at the Met Gala in 2021".
And while most of the celebrities in attendance are gifted their outfits and styling teams to represent designers, this goes against political rules for the likes of Alexandria.
Naked Number One
Long before other A-listers dared to bare on the Met Gala carpet, there was Cher, 78.
The Believe singer paved the way in 1974 with her sheer 'naked illusion dress' that was covered in silver crystals and embellished with white feathers on the sleeves and bottom of the dress.
The outfit caused the venue to go 'crazy', and sparked uproar amongst the public in the days that followed.
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Designer Bob Mackie recalled of the fateful night: 'People were horrified, they thought, 'that's not fashion, she's just naked at the Metropolitan'.
'I've never seen so many photographers just come out of the shadows at the Met and take her picture. And of course she was in every newspaper the next day. They've been printing it in the last 50 years, over and over again.'
Now, we have the likes of Lil Nas X, 26, who turned up to the 2021 Met Gala in nothing but a silver thong and his skin covered in silver paint and crystals.
Smoking In The Loos
We all know that smoking tobacco puts you at risk for cancer, stroke, heart attack, lung disease and other health issues.
But that doesn't stop the Met Gala's A-List attendees from sparking up in the toilets.
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Sneaky pictures from inside the 2017 event show celebrities touting the law to smoke cigarettes inside.
And they were bold enough to post photos showing them doing so.
Paris Jackson, 27, posted a photo of Bella Hadid, 29, exhaling smoke with a cigarette between her fingers, while Rita Ora, 34, shared a shot of Dakota Johnson, 35, lighting up.
At the time, the fine for smoking in a banned area in New York City was $100 - but given how rich Met Gala's invite list is, that was likely tuppence to them.