Louis Theroux has confessed that he ‘probably’ has alopecia after experiencing hair loss on his face, but that it’s ‘not a huge problem’.
The documentary filmmaker, 52, revealed the news on social media, adding that his beard is growing in a ‘small triangle’ and that he no longer wears it.
On Tuesday, Theroux uploaded a series of images on Instagram showing how his facial hair has altered in recent months.
‘So this is what my beard grows like now due to what I think is probably alopecia,’ he penned in the caption.
‘Basically I get a little triangle of stubble around my mouth and some more at the sides.


‘It’s not a big deal, but I don’t want people to think I’m doing something creative with my facial hair and doing it badly, when it’s just what I look like when I don’t shave.’
He continued: ‘This is also why I don’t wear a beard as much anymore. Maybe it’ll grow back. Who knows?
‘It mainly happened over the course of 2022. You get a sense of how it progressed from the other two photos taken six months before and a year before.’
Alopecia is a chronic inflammatory disorder that affects hair follicles and causes hair loss over time.
Alopecia areata, unlike male or female pattern hair loss, causes patches of hair loss on the scalp, whereas alopecia causes full hair loss on the scalp.
Theroux’s celebrity friends were quick to throw their support behind him following his post, with Professor Green writing: ‘I still cannot grow a beard Louis, I don’t even have to shave, head out the window at 60mph does the trick; have to watch out for lampposts and cyclists mind.’
Rapper AJ Tracey added: ‘still much better than my beard brother.’ (sic)
Meanwhile, BBC Radio 1 presenter Clara Amfo joked: ‘I did wonder, I thought it was soot from your bike!’
In recent months, Theroux has been on television screens with his current BBC Two project, in which he interviewed Stormzy, Dame Judi Dench, and Rita Ora.
In November, the interview programme was renewed for a second season.