Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has revealed he had a hair transplant after stress made him go bald.
The actor, who plays David Platt, said his hair loss dramatically escalated last year as he battled off-screen pressures and insomnia.
Jack, 31, had more than 3,000 hairs transplanted into the front of his hairline by surgeon Asim Shahmalak at Crown Clinic in Manchester.
Jack said: ”It is such a common thing for guys to have now – like a male version of the boob job.
“‘I decided to have it done because my hair loss has really escalated in the last year, particularly at the front of my scalp.
(Image: Crown Clinic)
”I remember seeing myself on screen and thinking: ‘Oh my God, it is really falling out.’
”One of my mates had a transplant and he looked so much better afterwards that I didn’t recognise him. I was blown away by the improvement and he told me he wished he had done it earlier.
”I thought if I am going to do it, I should act now so that I can get the benefits for longer.
”I want to get my hair back to what it was like before so that I can style it at the front any way that I like. It would great to be in a position to have an Elvis quiff and really have some fun with my hair.”
At the start of Coronation Street’s two week Christmas break, Jack had the same follicular unit extraction procedure as stars such as Wayne Rooney and Calum Best.
(Image: Crown Clinic)
Follicles were removed individually from the back of his scalp and then replanted by Dr Shahmalak in the balding areas around his temples and at the very front of his hairline.
Because it takes up to a year for the transplanted hair to grow back fully, viewers won’t immediately notice any difference in his character David Platt’s appearance.
Jack said he had been losing his hair for the last decade but it is only in the last year that he felt he needed a hair transplant.
He said: ”I could see the difference when I watched myself on screen and when I was travelling in a lift and the mirror would highlight my hair loss.
”A few of the make-up girls at Corrie suggested that I should have it done and I have talked it through with a few people at work.
(Image: Crown Clinic)
”My hair loss has definitely accelerated in the last year. I have had a few personal issues off-screen which have been stressful and I am also an insomniac which just adds to my stress levels.
”No one likes to lose their hair and hopefully I can make really difference to my appearance because I am losing it right at the front where you notice it the most.”
Jack said that being in the public eye since childhood had probably aged him prematurely.
He said: ”I have been working around adults since I was ten. So I have always felt really old – like I was about 80!
(Image: Crown Clinic)
”I would not say that I was vain, but I just want to be able to do what I want with my hair.”
Dr Shahmalak said that he treated a lot a famous men who feel under pressure to look younger.
He said: ”Wayne Rooney was a watershed moment and bookings have been up by about 25% since then.
”He made it seem perfectly normal for a man to totally change his appearance with a hair transplant and look years younger.
”I can really make a difference with a patient like Jack who has quite pronounced male pattern baldness at the front of the scalp.
”The 3,000 hairs that I have moved into this area will really fill out his hairline and there is no reason why he won’t be able to grow an Elvis quiff in a year’s time.”
