This week we shared the new story about Gogglebox star Chris Steed’s second hair transplant at Crown Clinic with our surgeon Asim Shahmalak.
As you can see, Chris got a fantastic result having his second FUE (follicular unit extraction procedure) at Crown Clinic.
Here are a couple of pieces that ran – in Mail Online and OK! magazine online. The full story is below.
‘I had a second hair transplant so I would look gorgeous at my wedding on Saturday’: Gogglebox star Chris Steed shows off his new look after going under the knife again ahead of his big day
* He had 4,000 hairs replanted into his hairline in an £8,000 operation with Asim Shahmalak from Crown Clinic – the UK’s top hair transplant surgeon;
* Chris admitted: ‘I am never going to be happy being baldie. I look 10 years younger after my latest transplant.’
Gogglebox star Chris Steed shows off the new hair transplant he had so he would look ‘gorgeous’ at his wedding.
The star of the hit Channel 4 ties the knot with his boyfriend of three years, landscape gardener Tony Butland, at The Grand Hotel in Brighton on Saturday, July 8
He had 4,000 hairs grafted onto his hairline – just 18 months after he covered up the bald spot on the back of his scalp around his crown with a similar procedure.
Chris had both transplants at Crown Clinic in Manchester with surgeon Asim Shahmalak whose celebrity clients include Calum Best, the TV doctor Christian Jessen, the football pundit Didi Hamann and Martin Roberts from the TV show Homes Under The Hammer.
Hairdresser Chris, 41, said: ‘I had a second transplant in 18 months because I wanted to look gorgeous when I walk down the aisle with Tony on Saturday.
‘Lots of men cope brilliantly with baldness and are happy to shave their heads to cover it up like my fiance Tony.
‘But I’ve never wanted to be a baldie!
‘I’m a hairdresser and I love creating wonderful hairstyles for all my clients. Having these hair transplants has ensured that I can have great hair myself.
‘I’ve always been incredibly vain and it would be a big blow to my self-confidence if I lost my hair.
‘For years, I wore wigs and hairpieces to cover my baldness after I started losing my hair in my teens.
‘But that is not a long-term solution to the problem. You end up ripping out the little remaining good hair you have left by sticking them on, and you also get horrible scabs on your scalp.
‘I would be completely bald now without these hair transplants, but I now have virtually a full head of hair.’
Chris had the same FUE (follicular unit extraction) technique used by Wayne Rooney, Calum Best and a string of other stars to bolster their hair.
The donor hair is taken from the back and side of scalp individually – meaning the only scarring is some red pin pricks which only last few after the procedure.
Chris, from Hove, East Sussex, appears on Gogglebox with his ex-boyfriend, hairdresser Stephen Webb, who is the only one of his co-stars attending the wedding.
‘They are all lovely people but Stephen is the only person from Gogglebox that I know really well,’ explained Chris.
‘We all do our filming at home, so we never actually meet each other except at big events like awards shows.
‘I didn’t want to sell my wedding to a magazine and have lots of stars there who weren’t genuine friends – it is a special day for my very closest friends and family which is why Stephen is the only one going.’
Chris and Stephen are two of only six originals who have been in the Channel 4 show since it started five years ago.
Chris first start losing his hair when he was 18.
He said: ‘I found it devastating and did everything I could to cover up my baldness including using wigs. But who really wants to wear a wig or a hairpiece?
‘Hair transplantation has developed so much in the last 10 years. You can create a lovely natural look and you don’t have to take hair off at night like a wig!
‘It is the only long-term solution for a problem like mine and I am so lucky to have such a great relationship with Dr Shahmalak, who works with all the stars and is the best in the business.
‘The technology is developing so fast that I am sure that they will be able to clone hair soon so you’ll only need to take out a few strands and then copy them for a hair transplant.
Chris said that being on TV has made him more vain. His latest procedure cost £8,000 but prices start at £5,000 at Crown Clinic.
He said: ‘I think that happens to everyone on the box, particularly with the popularity of social media. People don’t hold back if you look rubbish.
‘I’ve had everything – regular Botox, fillers, my teeth veneered and whitened, fake tan and I dye my beard. My friends joke that I have body dysmorphia but I just think I am incredibly vain.’
Dr Asim Shahmalak operates on lots of celebrities at Crown Clinic every year including many footballers who prefer not to go public about their transplants.
He said: ‘Chris has got a fantastic result. It is not unusual for a patient to have three transplants – Calum Best has also had three and Wayne Rooney has had more than one procedure.
‘Lots of men don’t like taking drugs to limit their hair loss.
‘Chris says he looks ten years younger as a result of the surgery – it is impossible to put a price on that feel-good factor.
‘A hair transplant costs the same as upgrading your car – but studies show that men with a good covering of hair tend to earn more and are happier and more successful. Lots would rather have great hair than a brand new car.’
Bookings at Crown Clinic are up 25% in the last five years and a key factor has been the increasing numbers of younger men ‘doing a Rooney’ and following their favourite stars in having a procedure.