Julie Chen admitted to getting plastic surgery for her "Asian eyes." Julie Chen revealed during a segment on "The Talk" that plastic surgery helped her career.

As a 25-year-old aspiring journalist in Dayton, Ohio, Chen said she asked her news director if she could fill in for vacationing anchors over the holidays, USA Today reports.

"And he said, 'You will never be on this anchor desk, because you're Chinese.' He said 'Let's face it Julie, how relatable are you to our community? How big of an Asian community do we really have in Dayton? ... On top of that because of your heritage, because of your Asian eyes, I've noticed that when you're on camera, when you're interviewing someone you look disinterested and bored because your eyes are so heavy, they are so small.' "

Chen said, "It felt like a dagger in my heart."

"It was racism," she added. Chen said she got "very insecure" about it all. She'd watch her segments and, "All I could see was my eyes."

She said a "big-time agent" told her, "I cannot represent you unless you get plastic surgery to make your eyes look bigger. And I did it."

Chen, 43, showed her before and after pictures on "The Talk," and said "how dramatic" the surgery was. She pointed out, "The eyes are bigger. I look more alert. ... more expressive."

She went on to say, "Now, it's like I sometimes wonder, but I will say after I had that done everything kind of, the ball did roll for me. I struggle with, 'Wow. Did I give in to the man in doing this?' "

Chen concluded, "I don't like to live with regrets. I did it. I moved on. No one's more proud of being Chinese than I am."