How Carrie Underwood's Face Has Changed Over The Years (In Her Own Words)

Since her rise to fame as the winner of "American Idol" Season 4 in 2005, Carrie Underwood's career has reached heights that she probably couldn't even have conceived of when she was a little girl growing up in Oklahoma. From winning seven Grammys to hosting the CMA Awards, the recording artist is no stranger to glory, and as one of the most famous faces in country music, she's also had her share of controversies. Prior to coming under fire for singing at President Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration, Underwood found herself under widespread speculation after retreating from the limelight in late 2017 and early 2018. Rather than allow rumors about her having elective plastic surgery to fester, the mother of two publicly revealed that she was laying low due to an incident that required ample stitches in her face.

In a letter to her fan club, Underwood revealed that she had fallen at her home in Nashville, Tennessee, ending up with a broken wrist and significant facial injuries. "I'll spare you the gruesome details, but when I came out of surgery the night of my fall, the doctor told [her husband] Mike that he had put between 40 and 50 stitches in," she explained, adding that she waited two months to open up about the incident because "there has been much uncertainty as to how things will end up" (via People). At the time, the "Before He Cheats" singer wasn't ready to show her face to the world because she believed her fans would notice the changes, adding in her letter, "And when I am ready to get in front of a camera, I want you all to understand why I might look a bit different."

After her fall in November 2017, Carrie Underwood kept her face hidden from the public until April 2018, when she performed at the ACM Awards. Later speaking to Today, she shared that her fall was a "freak accident" and that her earlier uncertainty came about because of how confronting her injuries around her mouth and to her wrist had been. "It just wasn't pretty," she reflected. Underwood appeared grateful when Today's Hoda Kotb told her that she couldn't notice a difference in her face. "I have a dedicated team of professionals who can speckle and paint and paste," she laughed, referring to her glam squad. 

Previously, in 2012, Underwood shared her beauty routine with Women's Health. She told the outlet that wearing moisturizer and choosing the best sunscreen for her skin were key parts of her bare-minimum skincare routine that still gave results, confirming that it was important to her to keep her face looking its best. "I take care of my face, but I could be better about applying sunscreen to my whole body," she said. In hindsight, this clarified to Underwood's fans just how upsetting the incident must have been for her.

While it's hard to imagine severe injuries on Underwood's face when she has always looked picture-perfect in public, the star implied to Redbook Magazine in August 2018 that the initial changes to her face were arresting. "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," she noted. " ... I wish I'd gotten some awesome plastic surgery to make this [scar] look better."

Despite Hoda Kotb's insistence that she couldn't notice a difference in Carrie Underwood's face, the "American Idol" alum confirmed that the changes were noticeable to her, even if they weren't to others. "It was also a perception thing, because I look at myself [now] and I see it quite a bit, but other people are like, 'I wouldn't have even noticed,'" she shared in her Redbook interview. "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."

Underwood appeared on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2018 and revealed that she did feel that she looked different, which is what motivated her to open up about the incident. "My biggest worry kind of at the time was that if I say nothing then later on people are gonna ... say, 'What has she done to herself, electively?' And it definitely wasn't a choice." During the interview, the "Jesus, Take the Wheel" singer told DeGeneres that she also had some minor work done to her teeth, which were chipped during the fall. Of course, there would be nothing wrong with Underwood having undergone elective surgery without having had a fall; the issue is becoming less taboo as more celebrities open up about their plastic surgery experiences. But also understandably, she decided to take control of the narrative surrounding her own image by revealing the truth about her face, even if most fans couldn't tell the difference.