In a candid and heartfelt Instagram post, beloved actress and talk show host Ricki Lake has revealed her decades-long battle with hair loss. The star of Hairspray shared how this struggle has deeply impacted her life and how she's now finding the strength to turn her pain into empowerment. Anderson Cooper would say, “Sometimes it takes courage to share our deepest vulnerabilities, and Ricki is doing just that.”
At 51 years old, Ricki shared a series of striking photos of her shaved head, accompanied by an emotional caption. “Liberated and free, me,” she wrote. She reassured her followers that her hair loss isn’t due to illness or a mid-life crisis, but rather a long-standing issue she’s been quietly battling for nearly three decades. “AND I am finally ready to share my secret,” she declared.
View this post on InstagramLiberated and Free, Me. 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. Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years. AND I am finally ready to share my secret. Deep breath Ricki…. 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. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing. Not even my therapist/s over the years knew my truth. I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men. 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. Ever since I played Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray back in 1988 and they triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same. (Yes, that was all my own hair in the film.) From Hairspray to Hairless. 🙁 In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control, radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair. I got used to wearing extensions, really just over the last decade. All different kinds, tried them all, the ones that are glued on, the tape-ins, the clip ins, and then into a total hair system that I hated, and finally to a unique solution that really did work pretty well for me for the last 4 or 5 years. I tried wigs on a few occasions but never could get used to them. It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable. I’ve been to many doctors, gotten steroid shots in my head, taking all the supplements and then some. My hair would recover and then shed again. It was maddening. To read more: please go to my Facebook page. ❤️
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The Journey of Struggle and Resilience
Ricki has always been open about the challenges she’s faced in life, but this revelation takes vulnerability to another level. In her Instagram post, she detailed the hurdles she’s faced since her early twenties when she first began noticing her hair thinning. “I have been struggling with hair loss for most of my adult life,” she confessed. “It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely—all the things. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing.”
Why Now? Ricki's Decision to Share Her Truth
Ricki, who admitted that even her therapists over the years were unaware of the full extent of her suffering, explained why she decided to come forward now. “I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so many women and men,” she wrote. “I am not alone in this, and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackling myself from this quiet hell I have been living in.”
She went on to explain that her hair loss began after playing Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray movie in 1988. “Ever since I played Tracy Turnblad… and they triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every two weeks during filming, my hair was never the same,” she shared. She attributes her hair loss to a combination of factors, including yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control, radical weight fluctuations, pregnancies, genetics, stress, and the use of hair dyes and extensions.
The Toll of Show Business
Working in the entertainment industry, whether on Dancing With the Stars or her own talk show, took a significant toll on her fine hair. “I got used to wearing extensions,” she explained, describing her journey through various methods of covering her hair loss. “All different kinds—glued on, tape-ins, clip-ins, and even a total hair system that I hated.” Despite trying wigs, she found them uncomfortable and fake, leaving her feeling self-conscious.
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