In a new interview with People magazine, “High School Musical” star Ashley Tisdale comes clean about her recent rhinoplasty (which Body-Philosophy reported on in December). Tisdale says the surgery was necessary in order to correct a deviated septum and two fractures that had caused her nose to change shape. With refreshing candor, the 22-year-old actress shares her first impressions about seeing her new nose after the bandages came off, and talks about the backlash she suffered as a result.

Tisdale admits that she “freaked out” after first seeing her nose post-surgery: "I was so swollen, I was like, `Oh my gosh, is it going to stay like this?’”

Tisdale also says she regrets her premature decision to perform at the Z100 Jingle Ball concert just two weeks after her procedure, because her “practically paralyzed” nose had not had sufficient time to heal.

"People were saying I was `unveiling my look,' but I was still recovering,” she says. “That's not what I look like right now.”