BTS Jimin
INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 06: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL USE.) Jimin of BTS performs onstage during 102.7 KIIS FM's Jingle Ball 2019 Presented by Capital One at the Forum on December 6, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Rich Fury/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

KEY POINTS

  • Canadian actor Saint Von Colucci died Sunday after suffering complications from his cosmetic procedures
  • The Jimin wannabe lookalike developed an infection from the implants he had put in his jaw in November
  • The actor died just hours after he went into surgery Saturday night to remove the implants

A Canadian actor who spent $220,000 on 12 plastic surgeries in one year to look like BTS member Jimin has died. He was 22.

Saint Von Colucci died at a hospital in South Korea Sunday morning after suffering complications from one of his cosmetic procedures, his publicist told the Daily Mail Monday.

Van Colucci underwent a procedure Saturday to remove the jaw implants he had put in last November, according to publicist Eric Blake.

The actor had developed an infection from the implants and had to be intubated, Blake said. He passed away hours later.

"It's very tragic and very unfortunate," Blake, who had been working with Von Colucci since March 2022, told the Daily Mail of the artist's passing.

The publicist said Von Colucci moved from Canada to South Korea in 2019 to pursue a career in the music industry.

Von Colucci had been signed by a South Korean entertainment agency, which paid for his housing, transportation and living expenses. He was on a seven-year contract with Blake.

Von Colucci stood 6 feet and weighed 182 pounds. He had dark blonde hair and blue eyes. However, he was "very unhappy about his appearance," according to Blake.

"He was very insecure about his looks. He had a very square jawline and chin, and he didn't like the shape of it because he thought it was too wide and wanted a V-shape, the shape many Asians have," Blake claimed. "It was very hard for him to get a job in South Korea, and he felt very discriminated against [because of] his Western looks."

He also told the Daily Mail that Von Colucci still got jaw implant surgery despite being aware of the risks of the procedure, which involves reshaping the natural jaw and putting implants in them.

Aside from jaw surgery, the publicist said Von Colucci got implants, a facelift, a nose job, an eye lift, an eyebrow lift, a lip reduction and some other minor surgeries in the past 12 months.

Before his death, Von Colucci had filmed an eight-episode South Korean drama series titled "Pretty Lies" from June to December 2022. He reportedly played Jimin of the Grammy-nominated group BTS in the drama, according to Blake.

Blake did not disclose many details about the upcoming show but said it is set to air on a major U.S. streaming network in October.

The publicist recounted how excited the late actor had been about starring in the project. Blake said Von Colucci had hoped that it would generate some buzz to help him launch his music career.

Von Colucci wasn't the first to go under the knife to try to look like the BTS star.

British YouTuber Oli London, who is non-binary, underwent 32 surgeries, including six nose jobs, an eye surgery, a facelift, a brow lift, a temple lift and a teeth procedure, to "achieve (their) Jimin look," E! News reported.

However, the influencer said in a YouTube video last year that they regret their actions, admitting that "it wasn't the right thing to do" and that it was wrong to "emulate Jimin in such an obsessive way."

Members of K-pop boy band BTS pose for photographs during a news conference promoting their new album "BE(Deluxe Edition)" in Seoul
Reuters