Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • So, Ben... Yes.

  • ..what made you decide to get a hair transplant?

  • Well, what it was was I was receding, and then, gradually,

  • as I got older,

  • it really affected my confidence,

  • and mental health, it started to depress me.

  • What age did you start receding from?

  • I could tell probably from 19 that I was starting to go thin

  • at the sides.

  • Well, we have a picture here of how you used to look.

  • Yeah.

  • So, that must have been quite hard at a young age to have receded

  • like that? Was that just, like...?

  • Really just knocked your confidence? Yeah, it did.

  • I wasn't happy within myself.

  • It was a miserable time.

  • How did that affect relationships you had?

  • I was actually...

  • ..on online dating websites,

  • and someone actually turned around and said, "Oh, you're nice-looking,

  • "but I thought you had hair."

  • So, that was like the iceberg for me. Um...

  • That's when, like, five weeks later I said to me parents,

  • "I'm booking a hair transplant."

  • Then five weeks later, I flew to Turkey.

  • What did you pay for it in Turkey? About 1,900 to 2,000.

  • And how many follicles did you have taken from the back

  • into the front?

  • I had... I think it was three and a half I was meant to have,

  • but I think he ended up giving me 4,000.

  • OK, so we have a photo, post-surgery.

  • Obviously, you've less hair there.

  • Yeah.

  • And was it painful, cos your head looks

  • a little bit scabby?

  • It was more painful, the ache, lying in the chair, like on the table.

  • That was... But it hurt a bit

  • that evening. I remember feeling a bit throbby,

  • but once the painkillers kicked in, it was absolutely fine.

  • I mean, your hair looks amazing now.

  • Yeah, I'm a bit jealous. THEY LAUGH

  • Pretty brave to talk about the fact that it did have an impact

  • on your mental health. I think you used the word depressed, didn't you?

  • Yeah. You said you were quite depressed. Has it affected any of

  • your mental health?

  • I wouldn't say it's affected my mental health, but it definitely

  • affected my confidence.

  • So, what about what Ben said about, you know, people online on dating

  • websites, perhaps saying, "Yeah, yeah, great,

  • "but I need someone with hair"?

  • Have any of you ever felt kind of knocked back, or maybe you haven't

  • even approached someone, because you're not feeling confident about your hair?

  • I feel more comfortable approaching

  • a girl if I've got a hat on.

  • She can't see my hairline.

  • But I wear hats all year round, like, not just the summer, wintertime.

  • Even if it's cold outside and it's raining or it's snowing,

  • I'll put a hat on, and I'll put my hood up.

  • Like, I will just always wear a hat.

  • So, if I was to get this procedure, and it was to go well,

  • definitely wouldn't wear a hat as much.

  • That hat, at some point, is going to come off, isn't it? It does,

  • but then I just rely on... I'm just... My mind-set

  • there is...I'll just charm her,

  • and then when I take the hat off, it's not too bad.

  • How did it affect your confidence?

  • Like, obviously it affected it badly, but after you had the transplant?

  • Oh, it was like a new lease on life, especially when I started

  • to get thicker.

  • The confidence grew with the months

  • as the hair grew longer and thicker.

  • Dating-wise, it completely changed the other way.

  • Has it been an issue with you, approaching people?

  • Yeah, but I think it comes down to, like, confidence

  • sometimes, doesn't it?

  • Has Bradley got kind of good game or...?

  • Have you noticed his confidence?

  • Apart from his rubbish dancing, yeah.

  • I would say...

  • I would say, yeah, he's confident.

  • Like, if we're going to,

  • you know, out shopping

  • then I'll just stick a cap on.

  • It's much easier than messing about with my hair.

  • And especially when you've not got much of it, but no.

  • Ben, do you have any advice for our surgery-seekers?

  • Um, just if you want to do it, just go for it.

  • It's like a life-changing decision for me.

  • I don't ever think about it now.

  • I worry about what hairstyle to have, more than anything else.

  • So..

So, Ben... Yes.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it