Kaz Crossley has shared the important reason for her new cropped hair, she has been living with alopecia and shaved her head for charity.
The influencer, first appeared on Love Island back in 2018, looking completely different with long locks. Now she is back for her second stint, the star is sporting a stylish blonde pixie cut, and the reason behind the transformation is pretty touching.
During a chat with Ron Hall, the 30-year-old explained that she was rocking her new look after donating all of her hair to a charity that makes wigs for children experiencing hair loss.
"After everything that's happened to me on my journey, it's made me who I am and made me do the things I do now, you know?" she said on last night's episode. "Even like shaving my hair off, it's because I had alopecia. I shaved it off for charity."
Back in 2023, the reality TV star opened up about her battle with alopecia, explaining that due to recent stress, she had experienced hair loss. "It's got a lot thinner," she wrote. "I also have a small bald patch right at the front of my head."
After living with the condition for over a year, the Love Island star decided to cut her shoulder length hair and donate it to, Little Lady Locks, which is a charity providing tailor made wigs to children under 18 suffering from hair loss.
"So yesterday I decided to cut all my hair off - to create a wig for a little girl who needs it," she wrote on Instagram. "I'm determined to spread awareness of this beautiful charity and hope you all see my dedication to this cause."
Louis Theroux has also been documenting his experiences of alopecia. In 2023 the broadcaster told his followers he "probably" has alopecia after sharing that he has experienced hair loss in his beard.
In an Instagram post, Theroux shared a series of photos highlighting how his facial hair has changed in recent months. In the accompanying caption he told his 763,000 followers: "So this is what my beard grows like now due to what I think is probably alopecia. Basically I get a little triangle of stubble around my mouth and some more at the sides."
He later went on to share that the condition had also impacted the hair in his eyebrows and how he has been trying a something new to replace the eyebrow hair he has lost.
According to the charity Alopecia UK, alopecia areata is believed to be an autoimmune condition, which often starts with isolated patches of hair loss.
The patches, commonly in one or more coin-sized areas, are typically found on the scalp and/or across the body including the beard, eyebrows, eyelashes or body hair, including pubic hair.
"In alopecia areata, cells from the immune system (a specific type of T cell, known as NKG2D+ T cells) gather around the hair follicles," the charity explains.
"These cells attack the follicle, stopping it from producing more hair. The exact way in which this happens is not yet understood.
Theroux and Crossley aren't the only one to document their experiences of alopecia, Jada Pinkett-Smith and Gail Porter have also spoken openly about their own hair loss journeys.
Alopecia areata can affect both men and women of any age. In about 50% of cases, it starts in childhood.
According to Alopecia UK a family history of alopecia areata and/or of other autoimmune conditions are present in 10-25% of patients. People with alopecia areata are not only more likely to have other autoimmune diseases (such as thyroid disease or vitiligo) but they are also more likely to have atopic conditions (such as eczema, asthma, hayfever and atopic dermatitis).
It still is not known what "triggers" the immune system to attack healthy hair follicles when people have alopecia areata, or even if these triggers first happen inside the body (e.g. from an infection) or outside the body (from something in your environment) and Alopecia UK says it could be combination of both.
According to Alopecia UK, alopecia areata does not cause permanent hair loss. The hair follicles are not destroyed, and hair does have the possibility to re-grow.
However once the condition has developed to alopecia totalis (total loss of all scalp hair) or alopecia universalis (total hair loss across the entire scalp, face (including eyebrows and eyelashes), and the rest of the body), the chances of full regrowth become smaller.
It is quite common for people with alopecia areata to experience hair loss on and off throughout their lives.
While there is currently no cure for alopecia areata, there are a variety of treatments to try, although none are guaranteed to work.
Many people experience spontaneous regrowth without treatment and treatments are more likely to be effective in milder cases of alopecia areata, with small patches of hair loss.
Common treatments for alopecia areata include corticosteroids (designed to dampen down the immune response) and topical immunotherapy (to distract the immune response).