Coronation Street star Jack P Shepherd has told how he had a hair transplant after stress made his hair fall out.

The Corrie favourite who plays David Platt had more than 3,000 hairs implanted into the front of his scalp after noticing dramatic hair loss due to off-screen pressures and insomnia over the past year.

The 31-year-old soap star, who suffers insomnia and had been losing his hair for the past decade, now wants to grow an 'Elvis quiff' when the transplanted hair grows back in a year's time.

He said about the transplant: ''It is such a common thing for guys to have now - like a male version of the boob job.

''I decided to have it done because my hair loss has really escalated in the last year, particularly at the front of my scalp.

''I remember seeing myself on screen and thinking 'oh my god, it is really falling out.'

(Image: Crown Clinic)

''One of my mates had a transplant and he looked so much better afterwards that I didn't recognise him. I was blown away by the improvement and he told me he wished he had done it earlier."

Jack, who won the best actor award at last year's British Soap Awards, has been at the centre of a harrowing storyline involving his character David being drugged and raped by his friend Josh Tucker after a night out.

He had the same follicular unit extraction procedure as stars including Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney and Calum Best, the son of Old Trafford icon George Best, at the start of Coronation Street's two week Christmas break.

(Image: Crown Clinic)

He added: ''I thought if I am going to do it, I should act now so that I can get the benefits for longer.

''I want to get my hair back to what it was like before so that I can style it at the front any way that I like. It would great to be in a position to have an Elvis quiff and really have some fun with my hair.''

Last summer Jack hit back at a troll who criticised his appearance on Twitter.

The Corrie favourite replied to the troll to explain he had lost his hair through stress over the break-up from his girlfriend of 15 years.

(Image: Crown Clinic)

The individual wrote: “Wtf has David Platt done to his hair? Looks like roadkill stuck to his head. T**t.”

And Jack shared the comment with his 400,000 followers and replied: “Hi, my hair has started to fall out because I went through a break up with my girlfriend of 15 years last year. And was very stressed. I’m sorry Gary.”

Follicles were removed individually from the back of his scalp and then replanted in the balding areas around his temples and at the very front of his hairline by surgeon Asim Shahmalak at Crown Clinic in Manchester.

(Image: Crown Clinic)

The surgeon shaved only a small area at the back of his scalp to obtain donor hair so viewers wouldn't notice any difference in Jack's appearance after filming resumed in January.

He said: ''I could see the difference when I watched myself on screen and when I was travelling in a lift and the mirror would highlight my hair loss.

''A few of the make-up girls at Corrie suggested that I should have it done and I have talked it through with a few people at work.

''My hair loss has definitely accelerated in the last year. I have had a few personal issues off-screen which have been stressful and I am also an insomniac which just adds to my stress levels.

''No one likes to lose their hair and hopefully I can make really difference to my appearance because I am losing it right at the front where you notice it the most.''

(Image: Crown Clinic)



Jack, who has played hair stylist David since he was 12, said that being in the public eye since childhood had probably aged him prematurely.

He said: ''I have been working around adults since I was 10. So I have always felt really old - like I was about 80.

''I would not say that I was vain, but I just want to be able to do what I want with my hair.''

Jack chose Dr Shahmalak for the procedure because of his work with other celebrities.

(Image: Crown Clinic)

Jack said: ''A hair transplant is just about the only cosmetic procedure us blokes can have. It is the modern day version of the boob job.

''People would raise a few eyebrows if a woman had a boob job 20 years ago, but now it is just seen as perfectly normal. It is the same with hair transplants for men.

''I decided if I was going to have it done I would go to one of the world's best surgeons. You want your hair to look right and for the transplant to be completely natural.

(Image: ITV)

''Dr Shahmalak was recommended to me and, so far, I have been delighted with the results.

''I cannot wait to see what it looks like when the transplanted hair is fully grown back in a year's time.''

Dr Shahmalak said that he treated a lot a famous men who feel under pressure to look younger.

He said: ''Wayne Rooney was a watershed moment and bookings have been up by about 25 per cent since then.

''He made it seem perfectly normal for a man to totally change his appearance with a hair transplant and look years younger.



'I can really make a difference with a patient like Jack who has quite pronounced male pattern baldness at the front of the scalp.



''The 3,000 hairs that I have moved into this area will really fill out his hairline and there is no reason why he won't be able to grow an Elvis quiff in a year's time.''

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