She was last seen on our screens in last year’s X Factor: Celebrity.
Now chat show queen Ricki Lake has assured fans she isn’t “sick” or having a “mental breakdown” as she debuted her new hairstyle.
Taking to Instagram, Ricki revealed that she felt “liberated and free” after shaving her head.
She told fans she had made the brave decision after struggling with hair loss for most of her life.
Ricki said: “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.”
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She added: “Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years. AND I am finally ready to share my secret.”
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.
The star revealed: “Here goes….. 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.”
Ricki added that there have been “a few times” where she even “felt suicidal over it”.
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The star said her hair loss problems began back in 1988 when she starred as Tracy Turnblad in the movie Hairspray.
She revealed: “They triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every two weeks during filming, my hair was never the same. (Yes, that was all my own hair in the film.) From Hairspray to Hairless.”
Ricki said that “almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing”.
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She said that by sharing her truth, she hopes to help others going through the same kind of problems.
“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 said.
Ricki said she believed her hair loss was due to many factors, including “yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control, radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions”.
She said she tried hair extensions, wigs and even got “steroid shots” in her head.
She described the experience as “maddening”.
Fans were quick to send their support to the star.
One said: “You’re so courageous and you look wonderful.”
Another added: “You’re gorgeous and a deep inspiration for so many.”
Let us know what you think of Ricki’s new look on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.