Gail Porter has spoken candidly about facing the extreme lows after her television career came to an end after being diagnosed with alopecia totalis.
The Celebrity Big Brother star, 49, was diagnosed with the condition in 2005 and chose not to wear a wig in order to raise awareness of the condition.
She also refused to wear a wig when asked by television execs, a decision which later saw work come in less frequently, causing Gail to stay with friends and left with no money to top up her phone.
Speaking on the Sacrifice and Success podcast, she said: “My personality took a bit of a knock.”
Gail found fame as a TV presenter in the 1990s (Image: FilmMagic)
The mum-of-one continued: “Jobs just stopped. Because you don’t look the same, ‘would you wear a wig, would you mind wearing a wig’? No, I don’t want to wear a wig. This is how it is.
“People go through a lot of worse things, my mum lost her hair to cancer, from chemotherapy. I just lost my hair, I’m very lucky.”
During her alopecia battle, as well as her mum’s cancer, Gail was also dealing with divorcing her ex-husband, Dan Hipgrave, of Toploader fame.
Gail was left homeless after she refused to wear a wig on tele following her alopecia diagnosis (Image: Mirrorpix)
While experiencing such turbulent times, Gail found herself homeless and with little money in her pocket.
“My mental health was just going. I was going through the divorce, no money coming in,” she recalled.
She added: “So eventually I had nowhere to stay, it just went from bad to worse. Things like, what do you do? Do I drink? I’ve got no clue whatsoever, I don’t take drugs so.
The presenter was forced to sofa surf when the jobs stopped coming in (Image: Luca Teuchmann / WireImage)
“I had loads of great friends but it was getting embarrassing because I’m in my forties, my daughter’s staying at her dads’.”
Recalling her ordeal, Gail said: “I’ve got no money, I’ve got no work, I’m sleeping on people’s coaches. It was like the Young Ones. I didn’t think I was going to be like this at my age.
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“This is why you don’t take everything for granted. You must always remember how lucky you are and be extremely kind.”
The star whose naked image was once projected onto the Houses of Parliament said: “So there were a few times I didn’t have enough money on my phone to call anybody.
“If I found a pound I was thinking, what do I do with a pound? I’ll see if I can find another one and get a mini bottle of wine from the local off-license or those little ones.
“Anything for comfort, I was freezing as well because I was outside.”
Gail was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2011 but found strength in her daughter, Honey, 18.
She said: “I’m bald, I’ve got no money, can’t get a job and I was so embarrassed to be the worst mum. I went to all sorts.
“I went to rehab for my depression, self-harming, if I didn’t have Honey I wouldn’t be here. One hundred per cent, I would not be here. But I thought I can’t do that to my daughter at all.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
