Bob Costas did NOT have pink eye during the Sochi Olympic games! He got got his infamous eye irritation compliments a botched Botox session, reports Page Six.
NBC’s prime-time Olympics host, who had to take a six-day absence after coming down with viral conjunctivitis in both eyes, contracted the infection after a Botox procedure to smooth out wrinkles prior to the Olympics. Our source said, “Bob’s eye infection was due to botched Botox. This isn’t the first time he’s had it.”
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NBC strongly denies that Costas — who arrived to host the games in Sochi with a forehead smoother than the Olympic luge track — developed the infection from a Botox procedure.
A spokesperson from NBC Sports insisted to us, “This has zero truth to this. Zero.”
Costas was forced to take nearly a week off from the Olympics, with Matt Lauer and Meredith Vieira sitting in for him after the infection spread from his left to his right eye. He told reporters later that it caused light sensitivity and blurred vision. “The worst three days of it I was primarily in a darkened room,” he said.Doctors say it is rare to contract an infection from a Botox injection, unless there was contamination or the patient suffered an allergic reaction. New York plastic surgeon Dr. Mark Warfel, who has not treated Costas, told Page Six: “If the Botox procedure is done properly, the patient shouldn’t get pink eye. It is highly unlikely unless the procedure was unclean, when the patient could contract cellulitis of the eyelid [symptoms include redness and swelling of the eyelid].”
Costas interviewed President Obama on Feb. 6, the night before the opening ceremonies. But the next morning, “My left eye was like a slit, and I’m thinking, ‘What the hell? . . . I’m also thinking maybe I put a few eye drops in and it resolves itself,” he told reporters. But his doctor immediately “realized something was wrong.”
Costas valiantly tried to cover up the redness by wearing thick glasses. But after five nights, his blurred vision and light sensitivity made it impossible for him to be on air. He took six days off and returned on Feb 17.