Loose Women’s Nadia: ‘It’s all been a lie’
The Loose star breaks down, revealing a harrowing secret
An emotional Nadia Sawalha broke down in tears as she revealed to her fans that she’s suffering from major hair loss.
The TV star, who’s famed for her head of big, bouncy curls, revealed that a doctor even diagnosed her with a ‘balding gene’, and that she’s lost a third of her hair already.
Filming herself in her bathroom at home, hair wrapped up in a towel, the emotional outburst took her – and fans – by surprise as she revealed that she was originally only recording to talk about a hair product.
‘The thing people ask me the most about is my hair and how I have such gorgeous, amazing, wonderful natural curls. And I’m going to be honest with you, they’re fake,’ she said. ‘I used to have the most amazing hair, it was my crowning glory, it was my most favourite thing about myself. It was thick, it was lustrous, and I didn’t have to do anything to it.’
Feeling ungrateful
Looking away from the camera, Nadia then starts trying to hold back the tears before saying, ‘Sorry, that’s taken me by surprise. I was actually going to be telling you about a curly-hair product. My hair is not like that any more. It really started to change after I had my kids, I lost a lot, like loads of mums do, but the texture started to change a lot. So having gone from really naturally curly hair my hair just started to go a bit frizzy.
‘Then I started perimenopause, and I think I’ve lost maybe a third of my hair. People do say, ‘Oh my God, your hair is so thick, it’s so amazing,’ but it’s not.’ Pointing to her hairline, she then added, ‘This is where it’s balding, I’m losing it all over. I feel bad even saying this when you see people who’ve lost their hair completely with alopecia or through cancer treatment, but it doesn’t really make it any easier, the fact that I’m losing my hair.’
Nadia, 52, who’s married to TV producer Mark Adderley and mum to Maddy, 14, and Kiki, nine, then
‘I just sound so pathetic’
couldn’t fight back the tears any more as she continued, ‘I went to a top hair specialist and he said to me that I have the balding gene. I didn’t know that women could have that!
‘Sometimes I think, ‘I shouldn’t be so ungrateful, I shouldn’t get so upset.’ My hair can still look really good, I just sound pathetic, even as I’m saying it I just sound pathetic, but it does make me really sad. It just makes me feel old.’
The former Eastenders actress then added, ‘I know that I should feel grateful that I’ve got any hair and I do try to be, but it doesn’t mean that I don’t miss my hair terribly.’
The next day Nadia appeared on Loose Women, where she shockingly revealed that her tearful confession led to a row at home. ‘I showed Mark the film. I said, ‘Listen, do you think I should put this out?’ We ended up rowing about it because I heard him say, ‘Oh my God, Nadia!’ I came flying round the corner saying, ‘What do you mean?’ I thought he was saying, ‘That was so over the top,’ but actually he was like, ‘I didn’t know that you felt this bad about it.’’
Nadia isn’t alone. Consultant dermatologist Dr Sharon Wong explained why many women suffer hair loss during the menopause.
‘In women, hair loss can be further exacerbated during the menopause – a time of change where oestrogen levels drop and there’s an increase in male hormones (androgens) in the body,’ she said. ‘Androgens can exacerbate hair thinning and loss, and lower oestrogen levels change the texture of the hair.’
Rallying around
Fans have been rallying around the star to say thanks for being so honest. ‘Nadia, you’re so brave for doing this video,’ said one. ‘You’re beautiful inside and out.’
Added another, ‘You don’t know how much you have comforted me because the same has been happening to me too!’
Others assured Nadia that she looked amazing, despite her fears.
And we completely agree!