In the first of her new, twice-weekly Fabulous columns Stacey Solomon admits she wears a wig - and boyfriend Joe Swash had no idea.
MEET my new best mate Suze. She’s my secret companion on Loose Women and even joined me and Joe on our romantic Valentine’s Day date.
But Suze is not a person. She’s my wig. I outed our friendship on Instagram a couple of weeks ago while I was washing her in the bath.
Suze came into my life because, after years of bleaching, tonging, blow-drying and straightening, my natural hair is completely ruined.
People always warned me not to dye my hair too much or use too much heat but I ignored their advice. I always wanted to go blonder, straighter, slicker. The result? Wiry, broken strands and a psoriasis-ridden scalp. Stress causes flare-ups and it’s so damn itchy.
The only way I can get my natural hair back is to stop styling it, but that’s impossible. My roots are 50 per cent ash brown, 50 per cent grey. I’m in my late 20s and it’s so depressing. I don’t want to look really old.
My ends are bleached within an inch of their lives so I look like I have zebra hair that fades into yellow noodles. Also, I have very thick, coarse Jewish hair so washing and leaving it is not an option.
Cue Suze. She was, in my opinion, extremely expensive, but she’s an investment I’m going to have for the next ten years. That’s the only way I could warrant spending £1,000 on her.
She takes 20 minutes to put on, is made of human hair and my friends reckon I paid a decent price. I sucked it up and that was the beginning of our love affair.
I’ve worn Suze a couple of times on the TV and on dates with Joe. One Valentine’s Day we had lunch at Sketch in Soho and then went to Nadia Essex’s party. I glammed up and shoved on Suze. She’s so easy and looks nice straight away.
Joe didn’t even realise I was wearing a wig – until we got home. She gives you a headache after a while so I was itching to get her off.
I peeled Suze off and was left with this slicked-down, Ritchie Rich-style hair underneath. It’s really not attractive. You have to be very comfortable with the person you love to whip your wig off in front of them.
I made a joke of it to Joe but I felt bad when I took it off. I’d kind of sold him a lie.
Everyone else got to enjoy the long-haired mermaid and he was cuddling up with my slicked-down, bald-capped head. Ew! At least he loves me enough not to mind.
I try to be completely natural in everyday life and just shove the wig on for work.
Imagine what people would say about me on Twitter if I went on TV with long, grown-out roots and frizz. I have to make myself look presentable but for the rest of day-to-day life there’s no point.
My boys think it’s hilarious and I often find them parading around the house in Suze, so she's more than just an accessory, she’s an entertainer.
Suze is great for two to three hours at a time – as long as you’re not trying to be romantic at the end of your evening. But I’d much, MUCH rather have my natural hair.
If I could give my 14-year-old self any advice it would be to look after your hair. Don’t mess with it!
I want people to know that when you see me on TV with glossy, bleached blonde locks it’s not my real hair.
For those of you who are constantly dyeing and straightening your hair, stop. I miss my old hair so much and I never appreciated it when I had it.
In my X Factor audition all of that hair was mine. That photo actually makes me want to cry.
I love Suze but paying thousands of pounds to slap a headache-inducing, romance killer on your head is not hair goals.
