Michael Jackson's former bodyguard reveals why star used to wear nose tape

Michael Jackson’s former bodyguard, Matt Fiddes, says the star taped his nose in a bid to control the narrative around his appearance.

It’s been over 17 years since the ‘King of Pop’ died and he still remains a cultural figure – with the release of Michael earlier this year piquing interest once again.

That biopic and a new lawsuit against Jackson continues the public fascination surrounding his life, career, and many, many controversies.

And Fiddes is one of the few had a closer look at the star and his personal life.

The martial arts teacher has spoken out over the years about his time with Jackson, who he issued a social media tribute to today (29 August) to wish his ‘late friend’ a ‘happy 68^th heavenly birthday’. This includes talking about his tactics regarding attention from the media.

Noting how Jackson would often be photographed wearing face masks or tape across his surgically altered nose, Fiddes told Lee Matthews on an episode of his Elite podcast that it was all part of shaping his public image.

"He knew how to play the media and keep relevant," the former bodyguard explained. "The sticky tape and the tape on his nose and the makeup and the fedora and the mask and the sunglasses..."

Matthews then asked Fiddes to clarify if the tweaks to his appearance were staged, which he confirmed.

"It was all staged," he said. "He wanted people to think his nose was falling off. It was allergy tape."

Exactly why you'd want the world to think your nose is collapsing or falling off is a question we're unlikely to ever have the answer to, but the fact that we're still talking about the singer's cosmetic surgeries years after his death shows that Jackson knew what he was doing when it came to public appearances.

This isn't the first time that Fiddes has spoken about Jackson's media manipulation tactics, previously confirming the nose tape trick in an interview with Metro.

"He knew how to manipulate the media. He knew exactly how to get the front pages. He used to have a meeting as soon as he got to a [city]," he said.

"90 percent of the time it worked, by putting a mask on his face, or sticky tape on his hands – or tape on his nose was a favourite one. He would say he wanted his life to be the greatest mystery on Earth."

Why did Michael Jackson change his appearance?

Jackson admitted to having two nose jobs during his lifetime, the first of which came after breaking his nose during a dance rehearsal in 1979, which led to him experiencing breathing difficulties.

The surgery is touched on in the 2026 biopic, with Jackson getting a nose job after his father referred to him as 'big nose'.

He also admitted to having a chin implant during his lifetime, while his changing skin colour was due to vitiligo, an autoimmune condition which causes the skin to lose its pigment.