Louis Theroux reveals that he ‘probably’ has alopecia after suffering facial hair loss

The 52-year-old documentary-maker said the loss around the sides of his mouth was the reason he had not grown his beard as much recently.

In a post on Instagram on Tuesday, he told his followers: “So this is what my beard grows like now due to what I think is probably alopecia.

“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.

“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 long-term chronic inflammatory condition which affects hair follicles and leads to hair loss.

Unlike male or female pattern hair loss, alopecia areata causes patches of hair loss while alopecia totalis causes complete hair loss on the scalp.

In Theroux’s latest project on BBC Two, he interviewed famous faces such as Stormzy, Dame Judi Dench and Rita Ora.

After becoming best known for inserting himself into fringe political groups, cults and gangs, Theroux adopted a more traditional interview style often in the home of his subject.

The interview programme was renewed for a second series in November.