HE is one of the best-known faces on British telly after more than two decades in Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
But soap star Chris Bisson has revealed he took drastic action to protect his looks – and career
In an exclusive chat, the 44-year-old actor — who plays slippery bad boy businessman Jai Sharma in the Yorkshire-based show — reveals he has undergone a hair transplant after fearing his thinning locks could cost him future screen roles.
Years in the TV make-up chair had made Chris increasingly aware of his receding hairline, as those behind the scenes carefully disguised the issue, prompting him to feel self-conscious.
But after accepting he was fighting a losing battle, the married dad of two bit the bullet and took action before it became too late, undergoing a revolutionary procedure involving 2,900 individual grafts of 6,400 hairs across the front of his head.
He explains: “As soon as you start losing your hair you’re immediately cast older. It reduces the amount of parts you can play.
For example, if you are 40 and bald you probably get cast as being 45 or 50. It can affect your career.
“There are definitely more parts for actors who have a full head of hair.”
Chris, who has also appeared in East Is East and Shameless, had two Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) hair transplants — which involved taking hairs from the back of his head and inserting them into the thinning area at the front.
And the Woolpack regular revealed that while solving his hair loss concerns gave him huge satisfaction, his career was also a driving force behind having the surgeries.
He added: “In real life you don’t notice your hair loss day to day, but in TV it’s different because you sit in front of a mirror and have a specific look that you need to achieve.
The first time I noticed my hair loss was probably in my early to mid-30s. I was quite pleased that I had managed to keep my hair for as long as I had.
“But when you go into work and they are having to adjust the lighting, or make-up are having to put more powder on your head just to take the shine off, you notice.
“One day I realised that make-up were going further and further back and I thought, ‘You’re nearly powdering the top of my head!’ ”
The Manchester-born actor confided in others who had undergone similar procedures before booking into the city’s Farjo Hair Institute — and says the results have made life easier both on and off screen.
His new thatch has restored his confidence — with many male stars now confessing they too want the treatment, costing from around £3,000 depending on the number of grafts required.
Chris explained: “I didn’t want to look younger. I wanted to stop the hairline going back too far and retain some definition around my face.
“I’m happy with the results. I’m relaxed and confident about how I look, and when I get out of the shower in the morning I can just do my hair without having to worry about styling it to compensate for where I was losing it.
“In my industry people are always changing the way that they look. It’s accepted — there’s no stigma attached to cosmetic procedures.
“In my case it was more about maintaining a look rather than changing it
“I know people who’ve had hair transplants, so I was able to talk to them to see how they felt about it and what the results were like.”
Hair loss affects more than eight million men in the UK and is often linked to increased anxiety and even depression.
Other high-profile patients of the Farjo Hair Institute include Cold Feet actor John Thomson, Coronation Street’s Alan Halsall and England football legend David Platt.
Like many actors Chris has spent recent months at home while filming is paused but will soon return to Emmerdale, where bosses have devised a clever way to maintain social distancing between cast members to keep the soap on screen.
Out-of-shot marks on the floor will direct the actors where to stand, with crew members using long wooden poles to gently nudge them into position if they forget.
Stars are also now expected to do much of their hair, make-up and wardrobe themselves — though Chris’s new hairline should leave him less in need of assistance than ever.
He adds: “It started taking longer and longer in make-up, using more and more products, and I thought, ‘Actually, it would be nice to have my hair in real life as well.’
In my line of work there are more opportunities if you have a full head of hair.
Chris Bisson
“In my line of work there are more opportunities if you have a full head of hair. Maybe bald men are under-represented on screen.
“In film and TV it has become a common procedure for male actors. It’s one of those things where people say, ‘Oh my, he’s had a hair transplant’ then forget about it.
“There are a lot of cosmetic procedures in our industry and for men this is the most common, but I’ve spoken to people in different industries who have a very different take on it.
“I have a friend in construction and he had not mentioned it to anyone he’d worked with, whereas I openly discuss it. People in different walks of life will have very different ways of thinking about it.”
Last week ITV drama boss John Whiston revealed some male stars had caused him scripting headaches by shaving their heads in lockdown, while female actors had been colouring their own hair.
Chris added: “I’ve got a lot of hair at the minute because I’ve not been able to have it cut since the crisis stated, and I don’t think we can have haircuts when we go back to work due to social distancing.
“So Jai is going to have quite a lot of hair when you see me on screen again.”
Explaining the new procedure, transplant expert Dr Bessam Farjo said:
“The two surgeries with Chris involved 2,903 grafts and 6,400 hairs, and for the second one we also added a treatment called platelet-rich plasma.
“This involves taking a blood sample, and spinning it in a centrifuge to produce a concentrated form that is then injected into the scalp to benefit hair growth and promote faster healing.
IT’S no secret that former England captain Wayne Rooney, 34, has turned to hair transplants to keep his locks looking good.
Rooney is believed to have spent £30,000 on transplants – the first was in 2011.
He said at the time: “I was going bald at 25 – why not? I’m delighted with the result.”
He had a top-up transplant two years later.
In his autobiography, he admitted to staring at himself in the mirror and thinking: “Bloody hell, you’re going bald and you’re only a young lad.”
Calum Best, 39, had three transplants costing £25,000 to boost his self-esteem before going on Celebrity Big Brother in 2015. His first hair transplant was in 2012.
He said: “I think I look five years younger and it has helped my career.
“I was keen to get it done before Celebrity Big Brother so my hair would look great on the show.”
Former Westlife singer Brian McFadden, 40, splashed out on the procedure in 2018.
He said: “My hairline has been thinning due to my lifestyle and stresses we go through in life.
“It’s been really making me self-conscious so I decided to do something about it.”
X Factor and I’m A Celebrity star Jake Quickenden, 31, had a £5,000 hair transplant in 2017 after “years of anxiety and paranoia”.
He said: I was terrified I’d look like Phil Mitchell.”
Actor James Nesbitt, 55, revealed he had his third procedure in 2017.
He told The Radio Times: “It was something I struggled with.
“And that was probably the vanity in me.”
“Like a lot of men it was a major concern to me. In fact it was practically an obsession.”
“I’m delighted Chris is happy with the results of his procedures and that he is comfortable talking candidly about the subject.
“Millions of men suffer in silence due to hair loss, something they may feel they can do little about.
“But people like Chris show what can be achieved and help to smash any remaining taboos people have.”
HAIR transplants are becoming increasingly common in the UK, with thousands of procedures carried out every year. They start at around £3,000 – and may need redoing as hair loss continues.
Dr Bessam Farjo, who carried out Chris’s surgery, said: “The two main procedures are FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) transplants and strip FUT (Follicular Unit Transplantation).
“FUE involves taking up to 2,500 grafts, a total of around 5,000-plus hair follicles, in a day from the back and sides of the head and inserting them into the front, where the hair loss is occurring. FUT has the potential to harvest more in a day, and is better suited for those suffering more advanced hair loss.
“Both techniques see naturally occurring groups of hairs – called follicular units – repositioned.
“Recovery time for both procedures depends on the patient, but should be around five to 14 days.”
The full results take several months to develop as the hair re-grows.
Clinics such as Farjo are now also pioneering new treatments that allow healthy hair to be harvested and banked for use at a later date.
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