Elsa Patton became a beloved personality on The Real Housewives of Miami. The television star appeared on the show between 2011 and 2013, and because of her popularity, “Mama Elsa” even got her a spinoff show.
Meanwhile, Elsa went through plastic surgery and plenty of it. She referred to her surgeon only as “the man who ruined my face,” changing her appearance entirely. But the truth is that Patton – who passed away in 2019 – looked beautiful even before her procedures.
This is all you need to know about her.
Being comfortable in your skin is one essential thing in life. It doesn’t matter if that means being bigger, skinnier, taller or shorter, bald, covered in hair, or anything else relating to appearance.
Sure, we all have things we’re perhaps not one-hundred percent happy with. But in the end, feeling comfortable and accepted for who you are is crucial in life. The key is to accept yourself, not chase acceptance from others.
Some deal with matters by changing hairstyles, going to the gym, or even having surgery. Others feel like change at a more fundamental level is what’s needed.
We will constantly reiterate that you should always do whatever makes you happy and comfortable. However, we also advise that you see a legit specialist if you’re ever considering plastic surgery – no matter what it’s for. Your body is on the line, so do your research well.
Elsa Patton – ‘The Real Housewives of Miami’
In Hollywood, many celebrities have chosen to go through with plastic surgery. Some have chosen to fix small things, such as wrinkles or maybe a nose job, while others have taken drastic measures to – what they feel – enhance their appearance.
Some – such as Simon Cowell – have been criticized by plastic surgeons, others have changed their minds in hindsight. And others have even chosen to remove botox or other procedures to get their natural look back.
Talking about drastic measures, plastic surgery can be dangerous. There are examples of how plastic surgery has pretty much destroyed a person’s face to the point where they aren’t even recognizable anymore.
One of those examples is Elsa “Mama Elsa” Patton. She became a star through the reality television show The Real Housewives of Miami alongside her daughter Marysol Patton. She was on the show between 2011 and 2013, but that was enough to make Elsa a star.
Her one-liners, laugh, and spicy character made her a beloved person on the show. She also went through a significant amount of plastic surgeries, even to the point where a plastic surgeon in Tampa, Florida called it out and said there was “no worse case” of plastic surgery going wrong than Elsa Patton.
So what happened to Elsa? And what did she look like before her many procedures?
To begin with, not much is known about Elsa Patton’s past.
Elsa Patton – early life, husband & children
A look across the internet shows no extensive interviews or feature pieces on the reality television star, and it seems like she chose to live a life in private. However, things took a different turn as she began appearing on The Real Housewives of Miami.
According to Ancestry.com, Elsa Patton was born in Cuba on August 25, 1936. She and her husband, Donald Patton, were married for 50 years until his passing in 2018, just 15 months before “Mama Elsa” left earth.
Elsa and Donald had two children, Marysol Patton and Thomas Anthony Jones. Their daughter, Marysol, and Elsa would become known through their appearances on The Real Housewives of Miami. Eight years after the show got canceled, it was rebooted in 2021 for its fourth season, where Marysol was also present.
As mentioned, not much is known about Mama Elsa’s life besides her stint on The Real Housewives of Miami. However, in an interview with RealityTea, her daughter Marysol described how her mother always had been a very social and prominent woman.
“Growing up my mother always had so many people that always wanted to be around her; a lot of celebrities, a lot of very important people always wanted to be friends with my mother,” she said. “Everyone was always fascinated by her so this doesn’t seem any different than how it’s always been.”
Marysol added, “It’s a little different when we go out together on the streets because strangers are coming up to us or staring or pointing or taking pictures, so that’s a little a different. But she enjoys it very much.”
‘The Real Housewives of Miami’ and spinoff series
She became a star even though she wasn’t one of the “real housewives” on the show. But it didn’t matter, as fans truly loved her spicy personality (she often told people “I’m a witch”) and one-liners as she accompanied her daughter, Marysol, on different occasions.
The viewers had fallen in love with her personality, and soon she was even given her own show. In 2012, the spinoff Havana Elsa premiered, which followed Elsa Patton’s journey toward starting her coffee chain.
“I love Cuban coffee… and now I’m going to have a coffee of my own, that is gonna be wonderful, it’s gonna be to my taste, and on top of that I’m gonna make me money,” she said at the time, as reported by Huffington Post.
The show was short-lived, with only nine episodes airing.
Elsa Patton starred in 17 episodes of The Real Housewives of Miami. From her first appearance, it was clear that Elsa Patton had done plenty of plastic surgery in her life. On the show and through Marysol’s Instagram page, several photos of Elsa in her younger years show quite a different person.
Elsa’s love for plastic surgery was apparent, but some things went wrong along the way.
Elsa Patton – plastic surgeries and procedures
At one point, Patton referred to her surgeon only as “the man who ruined my face” after receiving botched surgery. However, her transformation is something Elsa has chosen not to speak too much about. Instead, it was her daughter Marysol who once revealed some details of what “Mama Elsa” had done.
She said that her mother had her eyelids done in the 1980s, which caused her to have “hematomas on her eyes for like three years.”
At the same time, two plastic surgeon specialists have spoken out about Elsa Patton’s procedures, and they are not happy. Facial Plastic Surgeon Benjamin C. Stong of the Kalos Facial Plastic Surgery in Atlanta, Georgia, said that there is “possibly no worse case of plastic surgery gone wrong” than that of Elsa’s. He added that it’s “almost hard to even imagine” what she looked like before her surgeries.
Another expert – double-board certified surgeon Dr. Farrior in Tampa, Florida – stated that the situation with Elsa is nothing but a “tragedy” in judgment, ethics, and technique.
“Chances are that she did not do it to herself but was able to convince someone to do it to her. That is where it should have stopped,” Dr. Farrior wrote, adding that the surgeon in question had the responsibility to refuse further surgery.
“The real mistake was the choice she made for a provider because they did not say NO,” he wrote.
Elsa Patton’s health struggles
Elsa Patton’s health had deteriorated at the end of season 2 of The Real Housewives of Florida. Then, in 2013, just days before they started shooting season 3 of the reality television show, she suffered a stroke and was rushed to the hospital. It left her struggling to recover for several months, which also was why she didn’t appear in most of season 3.
Speaking to RadarOnline at the time, her daughter Marysol revealed what had happened. Staff had found Elsa on the bedroom floor, passed out. When Marysol got to the apartment, she couldn’t talk or move her eyes.
“She was very disoriented,” she told RadarOnline. “I thought she had accidentally taken too much medication and fainted. Clearly, that wasn’t the case. And I don’t know if she was on her way to go take a shower or coming out of the shower, but she had nothing on and that to me was the most alarming thing. That was what freaked me out the most.”
Elsa Patton’s health sadly continued to deteriorate in the following years. On May 13, 2019, her daughter Marysol said that Elsa had passed away after “a long illness,” surrounded by family and close friends. She was 84.
“The family is so very grateful to the many fans and friends who have continued to ask for her and offer their prayers and best wishes,” the statement read. “They thank the community, her caretakers, and the many friends who have continued to check in on Elsa from all over the world. Their support has meant the world to the family.”
Days later, on his show Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, the Real Housewives franchise creator and executive producer Andy Cohen made a touching tribute to Elsa.
“They’re up there doing work for me”
“Throughout the history of the Real Housewives, we have met many friends and relatives of the wives, but rarely has someone’s spirit, humor, and wisdom made such an indelible impression as Elsa’s did,” Andy Cohen said. He then showed some of her best moments from The Real Housewives of Miami.
For Marysol Patton, life moves on. As fans of the reality show might remember, she tied the knot during season 1 with French businessman Philippe Pautesta Herder. The couple split just a year later, but since, Marysol has gotten remarried.
In April of 2021, she and Steve McNamara – president of a Florida construction company – married in Mexico. The private wedding ceremony was very special, involving a Mayan ceremony and a shaman. According to a PageSix source, it was a way of honoring her late mother, Elsa.
“It was the basis of her mom’s spiritual-religious roots,” the source said. “She felt her mom’s influence guided her to have this kind of ceremony — Elsa is still in charge!”
In 2021, The Real Housewives of Miami was rebooted for a fourth season. At the show’s beginning, Marysol paid tribute to her mother, saying that Elsa and father Donald had brought her current husband into her life.
“My mom and dad sent him,” Marysol said, according to Distraction, before pointing to the sky. “They’re up there doing work for me.”
We will never forget Elsa “Mama Elsa” Patton and her wonderful personality. May she rest in peace.
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