A balding man too ashamed of his appearance to have sex for three years claims his new hair has left him fighting off suitors.
Mike Bute, 25, from Sunderland, kept his receding hairline a secret from his friends, forgoing sex and hardly socialising as he hid away inside.
In a bid to conceal his thinning locks, he spent years hiding beneath an elaborate comb-over held in place with a bandana.
Despite spending a staggering £6,000 on a hair transplant, Mike was left disappointed when it didn’t grow back as quickly as he’d hoped.
Mike before (left) and after his £6,000 hair transplant. He has also taken to wearing a hair piece until he hair has grown back 100 per cent, and is enjoying the newfound attention
In a desperate bid to look good for an upcoming wedding, Mike approached E4’s Body Fixers where he shared his secret hair loss in front of a shocked panel of hairdressers.
He had already had a £6,000 hair transplant – but the hair hadn’t grown back yet, and so he went on the programme in search of a quick fix ahead of a friend’s wedding in Ibiza.
During the show, which was filmed in May, Mike was given a stick-on hairpiece to give him a plausible head of locks while his transplant continues to grow back.
Now former cruise ship worker Mike, who is gay, said he has been attracting lots of attention from men and women ever since – but is holding out for someone special.
Mike explained: ‘On the show they gave me a hairpiece to wear and it was just amazing – easily one of the best things I’ve done in my life.
Keeping up appearances: In a bid to conceal his thinning locks, Mike spent years hiding beneath an elaborate comb-over held in place with a bandanna (pictured)
Despite spending a staggering £6,000 on a hair transplant (pictured before and after the procedure), Mike was left disappointed when it didn’t grow back as quickly as he’d hoped
‘It’s really amazing really how good it looks. It’s only held together by a bit of tape, I couldn’t believe it when I saw it.
‘I’ve got this new-found confidence and the attention I’m getting is great. I’m gay but I’m getting attention from men and women which is so flattering.
‘I used to get a fair bit of attention before the hair piece, but because I knew that I was secretly going bald I didn’t feel confident enough to take it further.
‘When you don’t put yourself in that position for such a long time it has to be something particularly special. So I’m waiting for something that feels right.’
Former cruise ship worker Mike says his life changed when he started losing his hair in 2014 at the age of 23.
Mike recovering from surgery. Doctors took 2,500 grafts from the hair on the back of his head and injected them onto the problem areas, but it was slow to grow back
He took to combing over his remaining hair, stopped socialising and even avoided sex for fear that someone would find out his secret.
Mike explained: ‘At first I just started using my actual hair to cover it up but then when my hairline started receding really badly I used a bandanna to hide it.
‘I suppose I was worried that my friends would think that I was weak or pathetic or whatever for losing my hair.
‘It massively dented my confidence in every way really. My social life and my sex life. I was terrified of people finding out.
‘That’s why I work in a restaurant. It’s one of the few jobs that you can hide yourself away and wear a headband to work.’
A set of images taken in the days after Mike’s surgery show the slow and painful healing process. The former cruise ship worker was hoping to have a full head of hair for a wedding
Stead progress: ‘The transplant has started kicking in really well now. I’m still using the hairpiece until it’s fully 100 per cent through though,’ Mike says
Mike’s problems got so bad that he spent £6,000 on a painful hair transplant which took 2,500 grafts from the hair on the back of his head and injected them onto the problem areas.
He had the operation in January, but with an important June wedding in Ibiza coming up, Mike was desperate for a quick fix.
Mike said: ‘I had the hair transplant that I really wanted but it can take up to a year for it to grow through so that’s why I went on the show – I needed something quicker.
‘I’d told some of my friends that I was thinking of getting a hair transplant, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell them how bad it had gotten so they had no idea that I’d gone ahead with it.
‘When I was wearing the hair piece, people just thought that I had gone ahead with the transplant I’d been talking about and that it had taken really quickly.’
The show was filmed in May and aired on Thursday August 10.
Mike shows off his luscious new hair piece. He recalled: ‘I had the hair transplant that I really wanted but it can take up to a year for it to grow through so that’s why I went on the show – I needed something quicker’
Mike now. He previously took to combing over his remaining hair, stopped socialising and even avoided sex for fear that someone would find out his secret
Mike said: ‘I don’t regret going on the show at all. It’s really changed my life in every way.
‘Since I’ve had the hairpiece I can feel the eyes on me whenever I go out. I know I look good again, which is such a good feeling.
‘The transplant has started kicking in really well now. I’m still using the hairpiece until it’s fully 100 per cent through though.
‘When my hair is ready I want to really get back out there because I’m a real people person.
‘I want to be able to travel and swim in the ocean again and do all of the things that I used to do without worrying about my hair.’