WALKING into her local launderette, Gail Porter was confused when the usually friendly owner blanked her.
As a regular customer, the 52-year-old TV presenter was used to being welcomed with a smile.
But on this day, the owner did not recognise her.
For almost two decades, since alopecia robbed her of her hair overnight, the Scottish star had proudly rocked a bald head.
Now her signature look was hidden under a long, blonde wig that she had just collected.
Gail recalls: “He asked if he could help me and I said, ‘It’s me, it’s Gail’.
“He was so shocked and then he started taking selfies of us to show people. The same thing happened at the newsagents. They couldn’t believe the change.”
Today, in an exclusive photoshoot for The Sun, Gail models her new hairpiece for the nation for the first time.
The sun-kissed locks — a gift from her friend Amber Jean Rowan, a model and wigmaker — are reminiscent of the girl-next-door look of her Nineties heyday when she hosted primetime shows The Big Breakfast and Top Of The Pops.
She says: “I’ve always said I’d never have a wig but this doesn’t look like a wig.
“I tried one once before, a few years back on an ITV programme, but I didn’t like it.
“This wig isn’t hot and sweaty, you just have to get used to it.
“When I headed home after collecting it, there was a guy on a bike who saw me and then did a wheelie. I didn’t know if he was flirting and I rang my daughter to tell her.”
A few years ago, Gail revealed she was keen to find a special someone.
But she won’t be showcasing her new hairpiece on dating apps any time soon after realising she is, in fact, happier living alone with her cat Ziggy Stardust.
She says: “I’m happy being single. I’m too set in my ways now and I like living alone.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love going out with my mates and going dancing, but I like to come home to my bed afterwards.
“I’m a big fan of going to the cinema alone. When I go, there’s often the same man there alone and I think, ‘Oh, bless him’.
“But he probably thinks the same about me.”
While the world has moved on since Gail’s alopecia caused headlines, she believes the public would still be as shocked today if a TV presenter lost their locks overnight — and this time it would be all over social media.
She adds: “Having said that, I only get kind comments from people. I can only remember one nasty one and I blocked and reported him immediately.
“Although there was a lad who was trying to be a troll and he asked if I had ‘public hair’.
“That was funny, especially when I had to correct him!”
Resilient Gail is still smiling despite the difficult hand she has been dealt following her rise to fame.
Alopecia has probably been the least of her worries compared to anorexia, homelessness, self-harm, divorce, being sectioned for her mental health, bankruptcy and the death of both of her parents.
It is no wonder the Spooked: Scotland presenter is still bemused by the interest in her lack of hair.
“I’m so used to not having hair that I’m not sure what the fuss is about,” she says.
“It all happened so quickly that I just had to get on with it and I was determined not to let anyone bring me down.
“I don’t think I’m a role model but if me being bald or me wearing a wig gives someone the confidence to go and try it for themselves, I’m glad. I like the fact that women and men talk to me about hair loss.
“I’ll go to the supermarket an hour early because I know someone will approach me. It’s the same when I’m travelling around on the train working and I take my beanie hat off.
“I love being bald — don’t get me wrong — but this wig gives me an opportunity to do different things, or go out incognito.”
Gail’s warm personality won her legions of fans back in the day, while her searing honesty about her demons only endeared her more to us in the years that followed.
When she dramatically lost her hair on a trip to Las Vegas in 2005, her only concern was for her daughter Honey, who was a toddler at the time.
But the little girl took one look at her mum’s new look and said: “Rock and roll.”
I love being bald — don’t get me wrong — but this wig gives me an opportunity to do different things, or go out incognito
Gail Porter
This acceptance kept Gail going as she was trailed by paparazzi and her TV work dried up. Yet she chose not to wear a wig, inspiring others with the same condition.
One of those was model and wigmaker Amber, who offered to make Gail’s hairpiece after an event at her shop.
Gail says: “I was there with all sorts of women. Some had gone through chemo, some with alopecia.
“We had such a laugh trying wigs on and when I put on a version of the wig I have now, there were tears and Amber said, ‘I’m going to make you one’.
“She reassured me that I could wear it whenever I wanted, just like a hat or just once a year for Christmas. The bald head will forever be my ‘thing’ and my look, but this is a way for me to dress up for special occasions or go incognito, as no one will recognise me.”
The lifelike tresses are made from ethically sourced human hair and can be washed and styled as normal.
Gail says: “I tried on lots of different colours and styles, but this one reminded me of being back in the Nineties and I was quite happy going back there.
"I wouldn’t have tried this if it wasn’t for Amber, because I’d been so adamant that it wasn’t for me.”
Gail is currently touring the country performing her stand-up show Hung, Drawn And Portered after a run of 31 critically acclaimed shows in Edinburgh last summer.
She uses humour to poke fun at her struggles, joking about her time being sectioned with two men who claimed to be Jesus and how she gets travel upgrades as rail staff assume she is ill.
Her new wig won’t be making an appearance on stage, however.
“I get too hot and nervous as it is,” she admits. “Plus I’d be paranoid about losing it. My heart would be broken.” She adds that even wearing it for our photoshoot was “nerve-racking”, saying: “I was quite anxious beforehand as I’d never put it on by myself.
“I’m not entirely sure how I feel about it but I am getting used to it.
“I have eyebrows and lashes too, although I wear those when I’m on tour.
“I buy a batch to apply myself or pop to Mac if I’m going somewhere really fancy.
“I’m not spending any money on hairdressers or shampoo — I must have saved a fortune over the years.”
For her 50th birthday in 2021, an artist friend gave her a painting that reads: Everything Has Beauty But Not Everyone Can See It.
“For me, beauty is inside,” says Gail. “It’s nice, kind people, funny people, those who are thoughtful and my daughter.”
“I’m very lucky to have a beautiful set of friends.”
But even her closest mates did not recognise her when she met them in London’s Soho after our photoshoot, still wearing the wig.
“It was hilarious,” she says. “When they knew it was me, one of the blokes joked, ‘It’s the 1990s, I’m having flashbacks!’. And my girlfriends loved it.”
On her way home Gail popped to Sainsbury’s, where a security guard caught her eye.
She says: “He said to me, ‘Nice! You’ve got a choice now. You look great with and you look great without. Do whatever makes you happy’.
“Isn’t that lovely.”
