A while back I read in an interview article that Gail did initially try wearing a wig, but found it excessively itchy and therefore uncomfortable to wear. So one morning when getting ready for the school run, she whipped it off and decided never again.

I totally understand and fully respect her resolve.

I know what you mean. My Mum lost most of her hair last year through chemo, she's always had an amazing head of hair and dyed it black even into her 80's. Now she has to leave it grey so I decided (I have always dyed my hair too) to cut my hair very short and grow out the dye (only took one cut really) and embrace my grey along with her.

I'm not sure I could have shaved it off though. Accepting my age and my grey was surprisingly hard for me. Talk about first world problems eh!

I think I'd have to go the way of the wig. Not everyday around the house, but i'm not sure I'm brave, young, or pretty enough to go into the public with no hair. Especially as my blonde hair is kind of part of my trademark look.
She's brave.

Thank you that's very interesting

Indeed.

There are a lot of things that life throws at you that it's hard to accept and cope with. But when all is said and done what you can't change you have to adapt to. Like I've said, that doesn't make it easy, neither am I being flippant, but to be perfectly frank if people don't accept you for being you regardless of hair or beauty, then I personally think that's their problem.

I wouldn't like to lose my hair, but God forbid there are worse things in this world that some folk (me included) have to try and live with and they seem to cope.

Can't she did what Wayne Rooney has done have medical treatment to grow hair. His looks totally natural.

I doubt it. They took Wayne's hair from the back of his head. That's how they transplant hair.

Bib: That is one of my most sacrosanct guiding principles in life. Such persons get short shrift.

I personally think it's fickle to like a person because of the way they look. The outer wrapping is nothing if the inside isn't very nice.

It's a kind heart that counts imo.

I agree, a beautiful personality trumps aesthetic beauty. In fact, a persons 'looks' are enhanced with a beautiful personality and vice versa......but, when you get both then it's JACKPOT - allelujiah!

Gail's hypothyroid - me too - and hypothyroidism can cause hair loss (I lost a lot of mine)
On a hypothyroid board I used to visit a few years ago there was some discussion about Gail's hair loss being caused by her hypothyroidism and with the correct hormone treatment (not the standard NHS treatment) there can be a big improvement.
Hypothyroidism can cause severe mental health problems too - colloquially called thyroid madness - I just mention this part in passing - quite a few people I know suffer with the mental problems of this disease.

I don't think I could cope at all, but then again I have a long history of body and self-image issues and my hair is pretty much the only thing I have ever been happy with. It's my comfort blanket, as strange as that sounds.

I couldn't carry off the bald look like Gail does, either. I'm tall and thin with a very small head and strangely small ears so I'd probably look very odd.

I have a tremendous amount of respect for Gail for how she has coped with alopecia. As others have said, for a woman to lose her hair is such a big deal and not comparable to balding men, IMO. It sounds extreme but I would probably become a paranoid shut-in if it happened to me and I got the 'oi baldy' comments like she described.

Utopia in fact.

I know it was a ladies only question but as a male I know what you mean.

I have serious self esteem issues and in my entire life the one and only thing I've ever liked about myself is my hair I have long hair down to my waist.

One of my genuine fears is losing my hair.

Muggs!

That post has moved me far more than anything on BB this season - or any season. What a wonderful thing to do! Knowing you the little bit I do, it doesn't surprise me at all.

On the question posed; I don't think I'd cope very well, but I think I'd manage it. My eldest sister once shaved off all her hair because she read somewhere that it grows back stronger and silkier. I kid you not. She's a stunner though - always was, and she carried it off with aplomb. She was more punky than Gail ever was and has very strong, dark features.

Look at Sinead O'Connor - at her peak she was arguably the most beautiful woman in the world with no hair at all.

I think the severity of the problem was greater for Gail because she IS the woman who was imaged onto the houses of parliament wearing nothing but her blonde hair. She was very defined by her looks - more than most women are.

Gail is very pretty - though she needs to invest in a decent bra! - and I wish she'd toughen herself up a bit; or if she can't or isn't there yet - don't go on a show like CBB.

Thinking about it if I had a choice of losing a leg an arm my sight or hearing or my hair I would chose my hair, Gail may not like it but she could be a lot worse off.

I hope your mum is ok now, and well done for supporting her in such a thoughtful way

I wouldn't cope at all. And I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to go from being Britain's number 1 beauty to invisible. I'm in awe of how Gail came through it at all. I can see why she's opted not to bother in the vanity stakes, but IMO that girl who was beamed onto the houses of parliament and featured weekly in lads mags is still there and still needs attention.

Yes. I'd buy several wigs and rock them. It's not like there isn't an easy solution!

The condition is partly stress related. You'd think she would tackle that.

I agree with all you say. I couldn't cope, and I'd definitely have to cover my head up with a wig or a scarf and that wouldn't be easy. To be honest, I'd be devastated.

Easy? Have you ever worn a wig? Have you ever worn a hat and couldn't wait to take it off? What about in really hot weather. And it's not just about covering up, it's about how it affects your self esteem as a whole. How flippant.

I salute your kind gesture x That is my definition of "amazing" not what Austin did in the house.

It may be a "first world problem" but it was a big deal to you and very considerate and kind of you to help your mum.

She could wear one for a few hour in the daytime to help improve her confidence and esteem though.
And I feel it really would help her and she doesn't seem to have truly embraced herself without hair- and for that I do not blame her at all and sympathise totally.

Gail doesn't come across as feisty and content . rocking her look, she is unhappy. Wearing a natural looking wig on occasion with golden brown highlights, ( not full on blonde- that would look like an obvious wig) would look stunning and improve her confidence so much I feel.

Gail is a girly girl and I feel she is trying to be someone she isn't and that is increasing her stress, ergo a vicious circle.

My hair's fallen out twice in the last few years and from personal experience i can say it is upsetting. Not so much for the loss of hair or how you look, but more for how other people treat you, the looks you get, the comments that people think you can't hear, and that horrible endless patronising from people too stupid to know when to shut up, talking to you as if your brain fell out not your hair.

To the 12 year olds saying "if she fells ugly wear a wig" i can't respond how i'd like because i'd get banned, i would say in my case, and it sounds like Gail is similar, your scalp/skin becomes so sensitive that even silk or really soft cotton is excruciating, so saying you would "rock" some wigs just displays your immeasurable ignorance rather than how super strong and problem solvey you are.

I've been lucky in that my hair is coming back in, not as thick but it's starting to look like hair. As others have said if it didn't of course i'd get on with it, like i have the times it has fallen out, that doesn't mean to say it isn't upsetting though.

That Gail "rocks" her baldy head in public, in an industry that is mainly interested in a woman's looks, is to be applauded.

A woman going bald has never been as normal and accepted as a man going bald in society. Men like their hair too but the impact for women has to be greater. Gail has stated that she has lost work because of it, I doubt that many men have.