Laura Darcy is now embracing baldness after being diagnosed with trichotillomania as a child
11:41, 23 Mar 2026Updated 11:54, 23 Mar 2026
Laura Darcy was 10 when she was diagnosed with her condition(Image: ITV)
A This Morning guest has opened up about a condition which left her pulling her hair out.
Hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley spoke to Laura Darcy on Monday (March 23) about her trichotillomania diagnosis at the age of 10.
Ben informed ITV viewers: “After spending over £20,000 across the years trying to fix her compulsion, Laura has decided to ditch the wigs and instead embrace her baldness.”
Curious about when the urge to pull out her hair began, the This Morning star asked if she could remember a certain trigger which started it all.
Laura replied: “I don’t remember the trigger, but I was about nine or 10, and it became a real compulsion, like I would fiddle, play with one hair, and it was one hair at a time. It felt nice to pull out, then discard the hair on the floor.
Laura Darcy was 10 when she was diagnosed with her condition(Image: ITV)
“I just couldn’t stop, I don’t remember one event that happened or a reason for it, but I knew once I started, it was so addictive, I just could not stop.”
Admitting that it didn’t hurt and felt like an itch she had to scratch, Laura’s parents began to worry once they noticed bald spots starting to appear, which is when she began to pull her hair out in secret.
They ended up taking her to the doctors, believing there was something wrong, as she kept quiet about what she had been doing.
She explained: “I was so embarrassed by it! I didn’t say anything. I think because my parents were frantic, I knew I was doing it, but didn’t know why I was doing it. I knew I was worrying them. We got referred to a specialist who worked it out, and I had to admit, ‘Yes, it was me’.”
Laura explained she kept her habit a secret from her parents after a while (Image: ITV)
The guest shared that she didn’t want to do it to herself but was unable to stop as it was such a compulsion. It wasn’t until she went to secondary school that she wanted to fit in that she left her hair alone.
Although it grew back, Laura shared that she managed to conceal her bald patches by putting her hair into ponytails and hair spraying. Ben asked when she wanted to try and look at a more permanent solution, as Laura shared it was in 2006.
Sharing that it was a conversation with her brother that prompted her to move forward with getting help, she said: “I went to the doctor, talked to them about it, and they put me on a list for some neurolinguistics programming therapy and suggested some prozac at the time.
It wasn’t until lockdown that Laura decided to shave her head(Image: ITV)
“They thought that might help. I started that right away, went on the waiting list for therapy and in the meantime, I started researching things myself.”
Laura explained she paid for various things privately, such as hypnotherapy,although some methods worked for a while, but nothing stuck.
After wearing wigs for 10 years, Laura decided to shave her head during lockdown one night as her husband helped her. She said: “I was really freeing, a bit scary, but I did it. I remember going outside and the sun on my head felt amazing.”
This Morning is available to watch on ITV weekdays from 10am