It's Not Complicated: Denise Richards' Boob Jobs

June 5, 2009— -- Denise Richards has no problem talking about her boob jobs – she's had three, by the way – just no one's bothered to ask.

That is, until Richards appeared on Howard Stern's R-rated Sirius radio show Thursday, and the shock jock demanded to know if her breasts were real.

"Um, natural on outside, on the inside they are not," the "Wild Things" actress and Charlie Sheen's ex told him.

By Friday, Richards, who's an open book on her reality show "It's Complicated," which kicks off its second season on Sunday, was wondering what was the big deal?

"I was kind of surprised," she told ABCNews.com about the way her response went viral. "A lot of people have had it (breast surgery)."

But why talk about her surgeries now, at age 38?

"To be honest with you, no one has ever asked me," she said. "If Diane Sawyer had asked me, 'Have you ever had your breasts done?' I would have answered her honestly, yes. No one has asked me but Howard. And, as Billy Bush from 'Access Hollywood' put it, he's the boob-ologist, so I can't lie to him. He would know. And I'm an honest person. So I said yes."

And since she's talking about her three surgeries, she hopes others will learn from her mistakes.

"I was so young and didn't research doctors and had complications," said Richards, who had her first such surgery at 19.

She recalled for Stern: "I was 19, and my roommate had the best boobs ever, and she had just had hers done. I was flat as a board, and I thought 'Whoa, you can just buy them' and stupidly had them done!"

Speaking to ABCNews.com, she said: "Any young girl who wants to do it, definitely wait until you're older. Because you may decide you don't want to do it. And find the best doctor. I don't care what it costs."

Richards said she had her second surgery to correct the first, but the second doctor didn't do what she asked.

"Even after several consultations, the doctor still put in what he thought I would want and they were bigger," she said. "Of course this was when I was in my early 20s."

"After I did James Bond (1999) and finished the press tour, I had them reduced (her third surgery)," she added.

So take it from Richards, who's now practically an expert on the subject: "Speak up, do your research and, if you're a teenager, try to wait."