Gail Porter’s tears of joy as she debuts wig after years of being bald

GAIL Porter has refused to wear a wig for 13 years – but she broke down in tears yesterday as she wore a headpiece for the first time since losing her hair to alopecia 13 years ago.

The television presenter, 47, was first diagnosed with alopecia in 2005 and she has refused to wear wigs over the years – but she debuted her custom-made blonde wig on ITV’s Loose Women yesterday.

Through tears, the Scottish star said: ‘I said, “I’m definitely not going to cry because I’ve got good makeup on!” It feels really nice but really weird.’

Flicking her hair, she said: ‘I keep wanting to do this all the time.’

She also said: ‘I’m quite a tearful person normally. I felt really nervous. I was worried about your reactions and what people think.’

Gail, pictured, said she ‘gasped’ when she saw the wig for the first time, and that ‘it reminds me of being young’.

Asked if she felt pressure to stay bald to inspire others, she said: ‘I think I’ll always be bald half the week. I don’t know when I’ll wear this – maybe go out for dinner or something.

‘I enjoy feeling bald. I want people to be aware you have a choice. It’s beginning to feel normal now.

‘It’s not just for people with alopecia... [there is] cancer. People lose their hair for all different reasons.

‘I might take this off afterwards and go shopping. I might have it in my handbag, have the option.’

Gail rose to fame in the 1990s as a TV presenter for shows including Top Of The Pops and The Big Breakfast and then as a model in men’s magazines such as FHM. She said of the wig: ‘I’m used to being bald. This is fun. People have got wardrobes, you can put your hair up... I can take mine off.. I can put a different colour on.’ She also said her teenage daughter Honey told her she ‘looks lovely’ with the wig on. Gail first lost her hair in 2005 and several years later, she was delighted when her hair began to grow back, starting with her lashes and brows. She then sported a short, cropped look, but in 2010, she revealed her hair had started to fall out again, and the following year she unveiled her shaved head again. Gail developed the condition in the wake of the messy end of her marriage to musician Dan Hipgrave.