Brazilian real-life 'Ken doll' who spent £30,000 on surgery dies after five-month battle with leukaemia 

  • 20-year-old Celso Santebanes died after contracting pneumonia
  • He started his transformation after winning a modelling contest aged 16 
  • He charged up to £10,000 for a VIP appearance 
  • Celso discovered he had cancer when fillers in his legs became infected

By Gerard Couzens and Imogen Calderwood For Mailonline

Published: | Updated:

A real-life Ken doll has died after losing a five-month battle against leukaemia.

Brazilian Celso Santebanes, 20, spent £30,000 on surgery to turn himself into a human version of Barbie's boyfriend.

He started his transformation into manufacturer Mattel's iconic toy after winning a modelling contest at the age of 16.

Real-life Ken doll: Brazilian Celso Santebanes, 20, died from pneumonia on Thursday following a five-month battle against leukaemia  

Spitting image: Celso, who spent £30,000 on his transfomation, released his own line of Celso dolls in Los Angeles shortly before his death 

Spitting image: Celso, who spent £30,000 on his transfomation, released his own line of Celso dolls in Los Angeles shortly before his death 

He was catapulted to fame after being spotted by a talk show in his native Sao Paulo and began to charge up to £10,000 for a VIP appearance.

Celso, a doll enthusiast, grew up with a shelf-full of dolls and claimed that his family had always told him he looked like the doll, which inspired him to become a 'human puppet'.

He changed his last name from Borges Pereira to Santebanes, the name of his favourite character on a Mexican TV show.   

He launched his own line of Celso Dolls in Los Angeles shortly before falling ill.

Celso died at a university hospital in Uberlandia in the state of Minais Gerais on Thursday after contracting pneumonia.

Dream come true: Celso grew up in Sao Paulo with a shelf-full of dolls and dreamed of being a 'human puppet' as his family always told him he looked like the Ken doll

Dream come true: Celso grew up in Sao Paulo with a shelf-full of dolls and dreamed of being a 'human puppet' as his family always told him he looked like the Ken doll

He had been admitted to the hospital on May 26 for chemotherapy sessions.

He was buried yesterday.

Dad Celio Borges said: 'When he was starting to fulfill his dreams, he discovered his illness and his dreams were interrupted.

'He had plans but God had others.' 

Celso loved dolls when growing up and decided to transform himself into a real life Ken doll as his family told him all the time that he looked like the doll

Celso loved dolls when growing up and decided to transform himself into a real life Ken doll as his family told him all the time that he looked like the doll

It's a doll's life: Celso (right with a friend) ensures everything he does, says and wears mirrors Ken (left)
It's a doll's life: Celso (right with a friend) ensures everything he does, says and wears mirrors Ken (left)

It's a doll's life: Celso (right with a friend) ensures everything he does, says and wears mirrors Ken (left)

Celso discovered he had cancer after going to hospital to treat infections caused by hydrogel fillers injected into his legs four years ago.

The former miner had four ops on his nose, chin and jaw - plus silicone implants in his chest - after friends told him he looked like a puppet.

In an interview with a Brazilian newspaper after he was discovered, he said: 'This is so magical. My life has changed. 'I feel like the whole of Brazil is supporting me.

'People are sometimes frightened by the way I look, and stop me to say how much I look like a doll.

'I do suffer a lot of prejudice. But the world is full of judgmental people, I don't care.'

But in January this year, Celso announced that he was starting a 'new cycle' in his life, and that he was 'no longer concerned with the issue of aesthetics'. 

'For me that doesn't matter,' he told the Latin Times. 'What matters now is my health and I will fight for it.' 

 

 

 

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