Trisha Paytas is a blonde lingerie model from Los Angeles who has recently made headlines after being featured on TLC’s show My Strange Addiction for her unhealthy obsession with tanning. Lots of girls out there put their health on the line every time they lay on a tanning bed, but Trisha Paytas takes artificial tanning to a whole other level. She’s been visiting tanning salons almost every day, sometimes twice a day, ever since she was 14 years old. The bubbly blonde, 24, says she has so far spent over $52,000 on keeping her skin tone dark, and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. She is fully aware of the risks she takes every time she goes into a tanning salon, but says she’d rather look good dead and tanned than pale and alive. Way to think positive…

Photo: Trisha Paytas/Grindhouse Barbie

Trisha’s obsession with tanning started early on, when kids at school started bullying her because she was overweight and had a light complexion. Everyone called her Pillsbury Doughboy, and that made her feel terrible, so she vowed to lose weight and get a nice healthy tan. For her 14th birthday, Trisha’s mother got her 40 sunbed sessions, and they went to the tanning salon almost every day after that. Her mom has been using tanning beds since her early 20’s, and has never had a cancer scare, according to the young model, so she doesn’t see any reason why she should give up on something that makes her feel good about herself.

Photo: Trisha Paytas/Facebook

Trisha Payta’s passion for tanning translates to 66 days of her life spent on a tanning bed, 34 of were accumulated before she turned 17. According to research that’s when a person is most vulnerable to skin cancer and other conditions associated with exposure to UV light. To make matters worse, Trisha admits to never putting on sunscreen, only tanning oil, and admits she had been going on 30-minute tanning sessions for a long time, until the law changed and she was only allowed 12 minutes of sunbed time. The self-proclaimed tanorexic says she has a lot of friends who use tanning beds, none of which have gotten skin cancer, and the fact that she doesn’t have any moles makes her feel safer. For the last 10 years, Trisha has been visiting tanning salons up to 14 times a week. Usually, during the first half of the week, she uses sunbeds once a day, and during the second half she goes twice per day, to make sure she maintains the dark skin tone she likes so much.

Photo: Trisha Paytas/Facebook

But Trisha Payta didn’t spend over $50,000 on sunbed sessions alone. To keep her skin looking “healthy”. the LA lingerie model bought herself a spray-tanning machine worth $700, and spent a total of $12,960 on spray. Another $2,100 went on fake tan she applies with her hands, which she used in various emergency situations. She also sunbathes without protection whenever she gets the chance and says she doesn’t have any regrets about spending a small fortune on her tanning habit.

 

Although she admits to using sunbeds a lot more than other people, Trisha Paytas doesn’t consider herself a tanning addict, and says she can quit whenever she likes. She just feels better and more confident when she’s tanned.