Beautiful people but what is the true cost?

Watching the final of TV One’s Dancing With The Stars caused some mixed emotions.

There was the joy and pride at seeing our Norm boogying his way around the dance floor in a totally blokey way and winning the whole competition.

Then there was the horror of Jason Gunn dusting off his dancing shoes and giving us the old song and dance routine. What works well on kids TV doesn’t necessarily translate well for prime time.

Next came the fear: would he follow the lead of Norm’s dancing rival, ex-Shortland Street actor Shane Cortese, and whip off his shirt? Fortunately he didn’t but just thinking about was one of my more horrifying experiences for the year to date.

And as for young Mr Cortese and his topless shimmying — flashing your man nipples at a nationwide audience isn’t so impressive when youre sharing the limelight with a bloke like Norm. You might not be a Mr Puniverse candidate but what muscles you do have pale in comparison to Stormin’ Norman.

At least Norm didn’t feel the need to get his gear off to win over the audience. Not that I’d have complained.

Still on the subject of beautiful people, growing numbers of Kiwis are combining a holiday with a bit of panel beating in a phenomenon known as medical tourism.

This involves taking a holiday to some far-off exotic location where surgical costs are incredibly low but the surgeons are, usually, highly skilled.

Some are taking this path to have surgeries that have long waiting lists here in Godzone — such as hip replacements. However, a lot are doing it for cosmetic surgery.

Medical Tourism has plenty of in-depth information while Planet Hospital will arrange everything for the discerning traveller, from surgeon to translator.

It’s a huge industry, and it’s growing fast. Experts believe medical tourism could attract a further 1 million visitors to India each year.

I suppose a boob job isn’t your run-off-the-mill holiday souvenir.