Lightning strikes twice
Zoe Lyons on how losing her hair again hasn’t dimmed her spark as her quiz show gets a second series
When Zoe Lyons landed the job as host of BBC2’s teatime quiz show Lightning last year, she felt she’d arrived. She’d finally joined the ranks of other comedians-turned-quizmasters such as Michael McIntyre, Sandi Toksvig and Jimmy Carr, fronting her own show after years doing the rounds on comedy panel shows.
Imagine her horror then when a severe recurrence of the hair-loss condition alopecia, which she’s had since childhood, left her needing a wig just before she started filming. ‘I think it was the stress of the pandemic,’ sighs Zoe, 50. ‘People in this industry lost their work overnight. I hit the menopause and my partner and I had issues — we ended up living apart for nearly a year — and I felt the wheels came off. I probably had a midlife crisis.’
Self-deprecating and naturally funny, she’s not afraid to laugh at her misfortune. ‘It first happened when I was 11 and it was stressrelated,’ she explains. ‘My parents split up, then we moved from Surrey to Glasgow, which was a big leap. My hair started falling out, but it was long then so I was able to weave it into an elaborate comb-over to hide the bald patches. Luckily, it all grew back.’
This time Zoe wasn’t so lucky as she continued to lose her hair. ‘It started with a small patch, then it just kept going,’ she says. ‘I lost all the hair on the back of my head, then the sides fell out. I soon realised it was all going to go. The worst part is when it’s coming out with gusto, when you’re in the shower and it’s coming out in handfuls, or you’re constantly picking it off the floor.’
As filming for Lightning loomed, Zoe realised she’d have to take that fateful step. ‘I thought, “I’m going to have to get a wig.” I know people have to deal with a lot more, but it was hard. I found an amazing woman who makes wigs for people who’ve got alopecia or are going through chemotherapy. So I got a bob that looked like my real hair, complete with my Mallen streak,’ she says, referring to the pigment-free segment made famous in ITV’s late-70s drama The Mallens. ‘It really helped me to feel like myself again.’
Now back with a second series, she couldn’t be more pleased. The format is simple — a spotlight shines on a contestant while they answer general knowledge questions, and when they get one right, they pass the spotlight on to another contestant. Whoever’s in the spotlight when the timer runs out is eliminated, and the final person then tries for the £3,000 (€3,550) jackpot.
In the past decade, Zoe’s become a familiar face on some of our most popular panel shows like Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You and QI, where she was often the only woman. ‘It’s a competitive industry, and to be the only woman was a bit hard and a bit uncomfortable. There were times when I was not in a happy place, so I’m pleased to say things have changed a lot.’
Lightning, Mon-Fri, 6.30pm, BBC2.