Ricki Lake shocked fans when she posted a photo of her shaved head on New Year’s Day, January 1. She used the surprising photos as a chance to speak openly for the first time about her years-long struggle with hair loss.
Ricki, 51, began her post, “Liberated and Free, Me. First things first, I am not sick. (THANK GOD.) I am not having a mid-life crisis. nor am I having a mental breakdown, though I have been suffering. Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years. AND I am finally ready to share my secret.”
The former TV host continued, “I have been struggling with hair loss for most of my adult life. It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing. Not even my therapists over the years knew my truth.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
But she didn’t just blame that film. Ricki explained, “In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control,
radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether
DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
But she didn’t just blame that film. Ricki explained, “In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control,
radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether
DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.”
Ricki said she used extensions of all types throughout the last decade and even tried wigs, but nothing felt right. “It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
But she didn’t just blame that film. Ricki explained, “In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control,
radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether
DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.”
Ricki said she used extensions of all types throughout the last decade and even tried wigs, but nothing felt right. “It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable.”
“So of late, after two months of bliss
‘working’ in London [on The X Factor] and after my last extreme diet where I lost 20 lbs in six weeks, my hair started shedding again, big time,” she wrote. “This time, I say no more. I have to be set free.”
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Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
But she didn’t just blame that film. Ricki explained, “In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control,
radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether
DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.”
Ricki said she used extensions of all types throughout the last decade and even tried wigs, but nothing felt right. “It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable.”
“So of late, after two months of bliss
‘working’ in London [on The X Factor] and after my last extreme diet where I lost 20 lbs in six weeks, my hair started shedding again, big time,” she wrote. “This time, I say no more. I have to be set free.”
“Well, it is a new year and new decade and a new me. With the love and support of some of my dearest friends … I buzzed my hair off and it feels so good!” Ricki explained, writing, “For 2020 and beyond, I want to be real.”
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Photo credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
She added that she might wear hair in the future, but that she was “done with hiding.”
“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men,” Ricki continued. “I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
Photo credit: Ricki Lake / Instagram
She explained that her hair changed forever in 1988 when she played Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 film Hairspray. “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she wrote, joking, “From Hairspray to Hairless.”
But she didn’t just blame that film. Ricki explained, “In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control,
radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether
DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.”
Ricki said she used extensions of all types throughout the last decade and even tried wigs, but nothing felt right. “It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable.”
“So of late, after two months of bliss
‘working’ in London [on The X Factor] and after my last extreme diet where I lost 20 lbs in six weeks, my hair started shedding again, big time,” she wrote. “This time, I say no more. I have to be set free.”
“Well, it is a new year and new decade and a new me. With the love and support of some of my dearest friends … I buzzed my hair off and it feels so good!” Ricki explained, writing, “For 2020 and beyond, I want to be real.”
She added that she might wear hair in the future, but that she was “done with hiding.”
Photo credit: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
