Liv Bentley is currently back on our screens on Made In Chelsea. But it wasn’t long ago since the reality star was starring on the latest series of Celebs Go Dating. While Liv didn’t find love on the programme - yes, despite those headlines about a romance with fellow co-star Josh Ritchie - she spoke openly on the dating programme about having alopecia, telling two of her love interests, Dom and Alex, that she was wearing a wig.
But speaking to Grazia, Liv says she wouldn’t have always had the same confidence. ‘I was only ever self-conscious about it when I was younger,’ she says. ‘And then through the years, I sort of just got on with it and sort of accepted it. But when I was younger, it was harder because I remember having boyfriends. And they'd say like comments or I’d always be clipping in extensions.’ Liv adds that she didn’t think too much before telling her dates on Celebs, saying that she took dating coach Paul’s advice to tell her dates something personal. 'And for me,' she adds, 'that's the most personal thing.'
Her hair loss started at 16, which was a little known side-effect of taking the contraceptive pill Yasmin. ‘[The doctors] connected the dots, and it was because I started the contraceptive pill at around the same time.’ ‘It’s not a side effect they ever tell you,’ she adds. ‘The only thing I remember being told is that I could put on weight or get spots.’
In future, Liv says she wants to do more charity work around alopecia. But for now, she’s happy that she’s helping other young women who are coming to terms with hair loss. ‘I get really nice DMs from a lot of younger people,' she says. 'I like doing different TV stuff if it can help someone.’
Her advice to young women, and herself when she was 16? ‘Not to stress about it,’ she says, without hesitation. ‘It's so hard because you can't not stress about it, but the stress makes it worse.’ Oh, and don’t get extensions. She says she can’t believe when girls with alopecia DM her, saying hairdressers have recommended that they get extensions. ‘Who on earth would recommend that,’ she says, ‘get a wig or leave it.’
As we talk so much about Celebs Go Dating, it would be silly not to ask about whether the rumours about her and Josh Ritchie are true. ‘Obviously now I'm not dating anyone because I'm stuck in my house for three months,’ she says, referring to isolation. ‘Yeah, we do like each other,’ she adds. ‘I don't really know how to explain it - I don't personally think we will end up in a relationship together.’ But she does say they’re still keeping touch while they’re in lockdown.
After all, it's important to keep human connection at times like these.
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