Renowned documentary maker, journalist and podcast host Louis Theroux has shared a health update with his fans in which he detailed his struggles with the autoimmune condition alopecia barbae.
Posting to his social media, the 53-year-old wrote how "nature has played a cruel trick on me" as he shared a picture of himself with a "tiny remnant" left of his beard as a result of the condition.
Alopecia barbae is a specific form of alopecia (an autoimmune disease linked to stress that causes hair loss) that affects the beard, which usually begins suddenly with a small circular bald spot, reports Healthline. For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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The Grounded with Louis Theroux host detailed his experience with the condition alongside the selfie as he wrote: "Nature has played a cruel trick on me. Thanks to my alopecia barbae (“of the beard”) I can now only grow a weird little Hitler moustache. This is what I look like after three days not shaving.
"I have given up on my beard ever growing back to its luxuriant former glory but is too much to ask for it to ALL fall out instead of having a tiny remnant in a potentially offensive configuration? And now a bald patch has appeared on the back of my head making me wonder if my proper hair-hair might be next to go."
He added, speculating how the condition may progress: "In two years or less I may be bald! [sigh] Thankfully there’s always audio and in fact in two days I have a new podcast launching exclusively on Spotify (there’s the plug - no pun intended) - The Louis Theroux Podcast. So I suppose you can make me feel better, should you want to, by checking it out."
Louis first suspected his alopecia diagnosis in January 2023, when he posted a series of images documenting a "little triangle of stubble around my mouth" over the course of a year - steering people away from thinking he'd done something "creative" with him facial hair. Revealing it began happening in 2022, the American-British writer said: "So this is what my beard grows like now due to what I think is probably alopecia. Basically I get a little triangle of stubble around my mouth and some more at the sides.
"It’s not a big deal, but I don’t want people to think I’m doing something creative with my facial hair and doing it badly, when it’s just what I look like when I don’t shave. This is also why I don’t wear a beard as much anymore. Maybe it’ll grow back. Who knows? It mainly happened over the course of 2022. You get a sense of how it progressed from the other two photos taken six months before and a year before."
Upon sharing this update, Louis was inundated with messages of support from friends and fans alike, with many sharing their own experiences.
Dawn O'Porter wrote: "love you hairy or not hairy", while actress and television personality Gail Porter, who developed alopecia totalis in 2005, commented: "You’ve always got me to chat to! Huge love xxx...Re hair/non hair I mean!!"
One Instagram user added: "The relationship we form with our hair is extremely complex. I am sorry to hear your troubles. I want to assure you, having suffered with Alopecia for coming up two years, that I have had some amazing regrowth. Some do, some don’t, but without the help of my dermatologist I would have lost the lot. The Alopecia society and community online are extraordinary people and I wish you luck moving forward. I know that we are all more than our hair, but it takes a lot of grit to truly feel that some days. Sending you lots of love."
Another suggested he begin another project looking into the causes and triggers for alopeicia: "do you think you would ever research into this looking at causes/triggers for this? I feel like people would find it really helpful to understand what it is and how this can happen at any stage in life. I think it would really help men, especially those who want to live up to stereotypes of “manly men” having facial hair and how this can impact self esteem. Just a thought."
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