Pick of the week’s Gossip

Photos of David Beckham looking distinctly sparse up top have reawakened interest in the mysterious case of his vanishing – and reappearing – hair. Only a year ago, Beckham suddenly developed a thatch that was much darker and thicker than before. Was it a hair transplant? Experts say that’s unlikely (transplants usually last 15 years). More likely he had started using hair-thickening fibres, which must be applied daily, said hair consultant Spencer Stevenson. “You sprinkle them onto your scalp and they use an electrostatic charge to cling to your hair roots. They are very popular in Hollywood.”

Anna Wintour’s former consigliere at Vogue has published a memoir lifting the lid on what it’s like to work for the fashion queen. It is not flattering. André Leon Talley describes Wintour (who is paid $2m a year to edit US Vogue) as “ruthless”, “incapable of human kindness”, and “immune to anyone other than the powerful and famous people who populate the pages of Vogue”. Not that it’s news: a decade ago, a journalist who interviewed Wintour referred to her as “Darth Vader in a frock”.

The Prodigy’s tours weren’t as wild as one might imagine. When a roadie found a door marked “Models” backstage at one of the dance group’s gigs, he thought he’d struck gold. Inside, though, he found no beautiful women: just the ravers quietly working away at their Airfix kits. “Liam was making a Harrier jump jet and Keith was finishing off a Mini Metro.”