Louis Theroux has given a positive health update on his alopecia as he revealed he was ‘bouncing back’ and seeing regrowth a year ‘after hitting bottom’ in a clip shared to Instagram on Thursday.
The documentary creator, 55, first started to battle the autoimmune disease as early as 2021.
But after admitting that his hair was at its worst point in 2025, his hair has started to grow back.
Louis gave his fans an update, explaining that he was prompted after Netflix viewers noticed changes in his hair while watching his latest Manosphere documentary.
In his post, he said: ‘It [his hair] is quite weird in parts of it, especially the back, when I enter buildings a couple of times, you can see it is quite patchy.
‘So I filmed that documentary last year, and that was my hair I think at its lowest depth of the two.
Louis Theroux, 55, has given a health update on his alopecia as he revealed he was ‘bouncing back’ and seeing regrowth a year ‘after hitting bottom’ in an Instagram clip on Thursday
The documentary creator first started to battle the autoimmune disease as early as 2021. But after admitting that his hair was at its worst point in 2025, his hair has started to grow back
‘The good news is that my hair seems to be growing back. Not all of it, but much of it. It is better than it was.
‘So it is more than a year, or about a year in fact, since I last updated you about alopecia. This condition that I have been diagnosed with, an autoimmune disease, leads to your hair falling out in patches or your lesions, as they are called, and this is me saying, surprise, surprise, it seems to have gotten better.
‘What have I done? nothing. I have made no interventions, I have taken no drugs, I haven’t changed my diet, I don’t feel like I am less stressed or more stressed.
‘I am just going to put it down to the vague mysteries of life and the human condition.
‘I am grateful that it is better. I take nothing for granted, I am pleased I have hair, I can see the sides and even in the back… you can see a little bit there, Still a bit funny.
‘So there are bigger things in the world than this I realise, but some of you may have alopecia and it is stressful and some of you may have questions about my alopecia, so I hope I have answered some of them.
Alongside his post, he penned: ‘A year ago, almost to the week, I posted about my alopecia… Starting in 2021 my beard started falling out, then my eyebrows, then patches appeared in my hair.
‘So here we are five years later, and after hitting bottom in 2025 me and my scalp have been enjoying some bounce-back!
But after admitting that his hair was at its worst point in 2025, his hair has started to grow back
‘Regrowth in several major areas! I don’t know what to put it down to. I don’t take any medication. Nor am I careful with my diet. Anyway, I’m very grateful. I like having hair.’
Manosphere follows Louisexplore how extremist influencers are manipulating young boys with their ideas surrounding masculinity.
He interviewed the likes of Harrison Sullivan (HSTikkyTokky), Myron Gaines and Nicolas Kenn De Balinthazy (Sneako).
The synopsis for Louis Theroux: Inside The Manosphere reads: ‘With rare access and no holds barred, the acclaimed documentarian investigates a growing ultra-masculine network and its controversial influencers.’
The Manosphere itself refers to an online network – including forums, websites and blogs – that promote anti-feminist beliefs, masculinity and misogyny.
Louis himself sent out a warning to parents of boys following abusive run-ins while filming the documentary.
The 55-year-old entered their world and learned how these individuals highlight their respective views on traditional gender roles and values.
At the beginning of the documentary, Louis remarks how he had noticed ‘parts of the Internet were being taken over’ by male influencers claiming to provide young men with ‘cheat codes to win at life’.
Louis told The Mirror: ‘These aren’t figures on the margins – anyone who’s got kids, and especially boys, will know that they are making inroads into the culture. Their influence is being felt in schools, in the workplace and all across the internet.
‘These aren’t figures on the margins – anyone who’s got kids, and especially boys, will know that they are making inroads into the culture. Their influence is being felt in schools, in the workplace and all across the internet.’
The last update from Louis on his alopecia was in July 2025 when he revealed that his alopecia had ‘slightly improved’ as he finally shared a snap of one of the ‘scalp lesions’.
He took to Instagram to reveal that after shaving off his eyebrows in March 2024, hair on his scalp had slowly begun to grow back.
Joking that he’d ‘found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles,’ Louis showed in one snap that he was using a clothes peg to tighten his skin.
And after previously refusing to share an image of his ‘scalp lesions,’ the broadcaster revealed a glimpse of one such patch, right at the front of his head.
Sharing four snaps of his improving hairline, Louis captioned his post: ‘Not only is my Alopecia maybe slightly improving – I have also found a solution to the problem of neck wrinkles. See if you can guess what it is!!!
‘In picture four I’ve shared a glimpse of one of my Alopecia patches – at the front of my scalp. The medical term is lesions.
‘Not gonna lie – the goth in me is slightly enjoying the sudden appearance of patches and stripes of grey and white hair in my barnet. Google ”Marie Antoinette Syndrome” for more on the lineage of this.’
Louis had previously revealed he’d had his eyebrows tattooed on after shaving them off during his battle with the condition.
In his caption, Louis detailed his choice to undergo the treatment, writing: ‘I realise there are much bigger things to worry about in the world but… a while ago I shared that my eyebrows had basically disappeared due to alopecia…
‘I received a lot of nice messages, some suggesting I try “microblading”, a form of temporary tattoo. So that’s what I did! It took two sessions of a couple of hours…
‘I’m happy to have my old face back. The new brows are neater and more shapely than my “real” ones were. But there are a couple of wisps of my remaining hair in there, which help make them look more natural.’
He then shed light on how his scalp is transforming and confessed that some of the alopecia is ‘weird and depressing’, so he is yet to share images.
Louis continued: ‘Meanwhile, more gaps – or “lesions” to use the technical term – have appeared on my scalp. I have photos of those which I may share at some point or I may not – they are a bit weird and depressing to look at tbh…
‘Life goes on. I am happy and healthy in every other way and I feel very grateful.’
After shaving off his eyebrows, he took to Instagram with a slew of selfies showing off his transformation, including a video depicting the moment he opted to remove the facial hair, having previously been candid about his battle with the condition.
He had previously shared with fans he was considering having his expressive eyebrows tattooed to save his career – and even debated microblading, a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing.
The acclaimed journalist took the first step as he completely shaved off his eyebrows, showing the changing look in different angles in the three selfies.
He added a caption reading: ‘Can you tell what’s different? I’ve shaved off my eyebrows! I’m also thinking about getting microblading soon. In the meanwhile I figure no eyebrows is better than patchy eyebrows. Do you agree?’
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