Louis Theroux reveals he ‘probably’ has alopecia after suffering hair loss on his face

Louis Theroux has said he “probably” has alopecia after suffering hair loss on his face.

The 52-year-old documentary-maker said the loss around the sides of his mouth was the reason he had not grown his beard as much recently.

In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, he told his 763,000 followers: “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."

Alopecia is a long-term chronic inflammatory condition which affects hair follicles and leads to hair loss.

Theroux added: “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.”

After becoming best known for inserting himself into fringe political groups, cults and gangs, Theroux adopted a more traditional interview style often in the home of his subject.

In his latest project on BBC Two, he interviewed famous faces such as Stormzy, Dame Judi Dench and Rita Ora.

The interview programme was renewed for a second series in November.

• What is alopecia?

Alopecia is a long-term chronic inflammatory condition which affects hair follicles and leads to hair loss.

Unlike male or female pattern hair loss, alopecia areata causes patches of hair loss while alopecia totalis causes complete hair loss on the scalp.

• What are the symptoms?

The first symptom of alopecia Aareata is often sudden patchy hair loss. The patches of hair loss can grow larger.

In some people, hair can fall out so fast that all the scalp hair is lost without any patches appearing.

Many people do not experience pain or other symptoms from alopecia areata.

• If you would like more information or support visit Alopecia UK

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