Television presenter Melanie Sykes has candidly discussed her ongoing health struggles, revealing that her battle with alopecia has left her "two-thirds bald." The 55-year-old star, who first confirmed her diagnosis in April 2025, opened up about the condition in a heartfelt Instagram post on Thursday, expressing that she is "learning to live with loss" while focusing on gratitude.
A Journey of Acceptance and Resilience
In her social media update, Sykes shared a selfie where she styled her remaining hair into a bob, wearing tinted glasses and a T-shirt. She explained that the hair around her crown is all she has left, but noted it remains healthy. "My crown is pretty much what's left of my hair now and how healthy it is," she wrote. "I do get cold however, hence my beanie and various headwear but I'm learning to live with 'loss' and counting my blessings instead."
Embracing Post-Traumatic Growth
Sykes ended 2025 with a positive health update, revealing she is experiencing "Post-Traumatic Growth"—a psychological concept where individuals find positive change after trauma. She described herself as "vibrating high" after "transcending trauma" amid her autoimmune condition, which has also caused excessive inflammation throughout her body.
"Even the most difficult times do pass, they do, and I just want to use this term post traumatic growth, it's real," Sykes said. "You can be suffering from PTSD but still at the same time be experiencing post traumatic growth. I'm in both camps because you can be both things at once, as long as I attend to myself and what makes me happy and feel grief about whatever has gone on and process it and move on from it."
Additional Health Challenges
The former face of Boddingtons Bitter beer adverts in the mid-1990s has also been dealing with heart issues that cause palpitations. She attributed these problems to "PTSD, shock, mistreatment and malpractice" over recent months. In April 2025, Sykes first gave insight into her hair loss by sharing a photo showing a bald spot on her head, taken while she was in London investigating health concerns.
A Spiritual Approach to Healing
Sykes has adopted a spiritual approach to her recovery, recently completing a meditation teacher training course and reigniting her YouTube channel after a period of learning and healing. "Mostly I've been living a very, very spiritual existence," she explained. "It's been a while I have ignited my YouTube channel again after a long period of learning, meditating and healing (this is ongoing.)"
Despite her challenges, Sykes urged fans not to worry about her, emphasizing that she has learned to take care of herself. "Life is so good, and I know it because I'm right here right now and there's nothing to fear," she said. "The more I tune into faith, and believing that all is well because it is, because I'm experiencing it, so I know that it is, that it'll only get better."
Focusing on Positivity
The television personality prefers not to dwell on her illness in conversations, choosing instead to focus on more uplifting topics. "It's not like I'm hiding it, I'd just rather have a conversation about something else because I've got that down and I'm healing myself," she noted. "Worry about yourselves, if anything, and I don't even mean worry about yourselves, I just mean attend to your own spiritual garden, yourself, your body, your mind, your creative spirit."
Sykes concluded with a message of self-reliance and love: "Don't worry about me, I've got me, I've always got me, I've learned to really take care of myself in the last two years. Remember I love you always."
