After baldness, Gail Porter shows off her new look

When Gail Porter began to suffer from hair loss five years ago, her world was turned upside down. The balding TV presenter found it difficult to adjust to life without her locks, and admitted that baldness had affected her self-esteem.

Nonetheless, the blonde beauty bravely refused to wear a wig. Instead, she resigned herself to baldness and happily posed for photographers with a completely bare head.

Now – much to the Scot’s surprise – her hair has begun to grow back. She has just appeared on Channel Five, sporting a brand new look. Remarkably, instead of her old blonde hair, her locks grew back brunette. But Gail has opted to stay with her old look by bleaching her hair.

Speaking online via her Twitter page, she jokingly told fans: “Don’t know what to do with my dodgy hair! I’m too used to being bald!”

Alopecia

Gail’s hair loss was originally caused by a condition called alopecia. The most common type of this condition is alopecia areata. It affects one in 100 people, most of whom are teenagers or young people, and creates a patchy hair loss effect.

Although experts are not entirely sure why alopecia areata occurs, it is thought to be caused by immune system problems. In most cases, hair eventually grows back. However, one in five people may go on to develop a more serious and longer-lasting form of hair loss.

Living with baldness

As Gail’s case shows, baldness can have a negative effect on a person's self-esteem. However, with good support from the people who are close to them in their lives, it is possible for people to be bald and still be proud. Gail recalls the support that her then-boyfriend gave her: “When I lost my hair, James was amazing. He said, 'So what? You still have your face, your heart and all the important things.'"

“Every day he would compliment me. We had so much fun. He’d even write or draw things on my head! He did everything possible to make me laugh and feel good.”

Such support is usually very valuable to people who have gone bald. It is also important for them to remember that they are not alone; for both women and men, there are millions of new cases of baldness occuring every year. For men this is particularly true: one in two go bald at some stage in their life.