Harry Styles has been forced to confirm that his hair is not a wig after a bizarre rumour started circulating that he’s secretly bald.
On TikTok, fans of the singer and actor have been inspecting the star’s hairline, passing judgements on the realness of his hair and making wise cracks about his rumoured baldness. There’s also a fair amount of memes doing the rounds showing the 28-year-old with a photoshopped smooth head.
The hearsay grew so loud that Styles was even asked about the state of his hair growth in a recent interview with Rolling Stone.
“What is it with baldness? It skips a generation or something, right?” he replied. “If your grandad’s bald then you’ll be bald? Well, my granddad wasn’t bald, so fingers crossed.”
So, at 28, Styles is not bald, it seems. And the story is all fun and games, until you remember that male pattern baldness can have serious mental health implications for a lot of men.
In one study involving more than 1,500 participants impacted by hair loss, 62% agreed that it could affect self-esteem. Reduced self-confidence in personal attractiveness was also reported by 38% of men who were not in stable romantic relationships and 42% expressed fear about going bald completely.
All things considered, Styles missed an opportunity here to spread some baldness positivity, instead of crossing his fingers to keep his locks for life.
But the good news is that plenty of bald men are embracing life without hair. HuffPost UK previously spoke to men about what it’s like to be the bald guy at work and refreshingly, they told us it’s no big deal.
Nick Chowdrey, a 33-year-old from London, started to lose his hair when he was 19 and said the decision to shave it off completely was actually “underwhelming”.
“I walked into work and expected jeers and shock, but mostly I was met with positivity, bar the one toxic masculine sales guy who made a cliché comment like ‘get into a fight with a lawnmower?’” he said. “I haven’t ever received any comments in the workplace about it since, but I expect I’m just lucky, having worked in the charity sector for the last five years where toxic masculinity tends not to be so prevalent.”
Meanwhile Jordan James, a 35-year-old Londoner who works in PR, said his baldness has helped build rapport with certain clients.
“I’m newly bald (before this I had a blonde ponytail) and I’ve noticed that it’s actually helped my relationships with both colleagues and clients,” he said. “Typically, being bald makes me seem older (and wiser) and I feel like I’m respected more. For many men, it’s a right of passage – it shows you’ve got some experience.
“I can’t recall a negative experience and it certainly saves on the hair dressing bill!”
So there you have it, Harry. You may have luscious locks for now, but don’t sweat it if you lose them – there’s nothing wrong with going bald.