Businessman Gary Goldsmith’s hair transplant has been the talk of the internet ever since he entered the Celebrity Big Brother house with a new, luscious head of hair. Famous for being Kate Middleton’s vivacious uncle, commenters were used to the fully-shaven look Gary used to wear to mask his advanced male pattern baldness. Few believed achieving this amount of hair growth was even possible given his extensive baldness.
With his typical frankness, Gary has spoken openly to reporters and social media followers alike about the 2 stage hair transplant he received at the Wimpole Clinic. He shared his enthusiasm for the results and encouraged those considering this treatment to try it because, in his own words:
“I think for a lot of people it might boost their self confidence, or their inner self, or it might be that that might be their crowning glory” [1].
Keep reading this article to find out all you need to know about:
Born in 1965, Gary Goldsmith is a successful British entrepreneur and business growth coach. His notable contributions to the IT recruitment industry have received recognition throughout the years and accrued him considerable wealth. However, Gary has another claim to fame: he is also the maternal uncle of Kate Middleton, Princess of Wales.
In March 2024, Gary Goldsmith made his TV entertainment debut by starring as a housemate in the 23rd edition of Celebrity Big Brother [2].
Gary made a cheerful, confident appearance as he walked into the Harley Street Wimpole Clinic in November 2022, for the first stage of his hair transplant. Since his androgenetic alopecia (male pattern baldness) was very advanced, he had been advised to undergo a two-stage procedure, to ensure optimum results. This first surgery, which reduced his frontal balding, left Gary impressed with the completely painless process.
10 days after this procedure, Gary showed his appreciation for the Wimpole Clinic medical team in a social media post meant to encourage others who are also considering getting a natural-looking hair transplant.
The businessman returned 9 months later, in August 2023, with a significantly greater amount of hair and eager to fill in the bald spot on his crown as well. The procedure went down smoothly and he left the clinic satisfied and excited to see the final results.
After healing, Gary paid us a visit to show off his new hairline and to take a few photos with the staff. He also wanted to give a heartfelt thanks to Dr. Kieran Dayah, the world-leading hair restoration specialist who made his hair transformation possible.
The businessman was experiencing an advanced form of male pattern baldness. This is the leading cause of hair loss among men, with 85% of them experiencing some amount of hair shedding before the age of 50 [3]. The condition is caused by a combination of factors such as a person’s age, their genes, as well as their hormonal activity.
In androgenetic alopecia, your body converts an excessive amount of testosterone into a different kind of male hormone called dihydrotestosterone (DHT). DHT binds to specific androgen receptors in your hair follicles, causing them to stop producing hair. Certain parts of your scalp, such as your hairline, frontal area, temples and crown are more affected by hair loss, while the sides and back of the head are most frequently spared.
Male pattern baldness is progressive, so if left untreated, it can lead to extensive alopecia. Gary’s hair loss had reached Norwood stage 7. At this point, a hair transplant needs to be performed as soon as possible, while there is still sufficient healthy hair in the donor area.
Gary seems to have struggled with androgenetic alopecia for a long time, as there are few public photographs where his head is not covered or completely shaven. Here is what can be gleaned about his hair timeline:
There are almost no publicly available photos of Gary Goldsmith as a child or a young man, so it is difficult to get a baseline of what his healthy hairline used to look like. There is, however, one picture of him at the age of 12. Back then, he had a full head of hair and bangs which conceal his forehead and natural hairline. Approximately 15% of adolescents show signs of early-onset androgenetic alopecia [4], the leading cause of teenage hair loss. However, it is impossible to tell from this photograph whether this was Gary’s case.
As a young man, Gary Goldsmith has been quite discreet regarding his public appearances. However, photos from his first two weddings have still surfaced. The first one shows him as a young groom, aged 26. A careful look at his receding hairline suggests that by this time, he may have already experienced the first signs of hair thinning and balding.
Six years later, at his second wedding, his hairline seems a little straighter. But that is only because it had receded further and he had also experienced temple hair loss that caught up with the frontal hair shedding.
Even before pushing 50, Gary’s male pattern baldness had become advanced. At 48, he had already experienced almost complete frontal and temporal hair loss. The businessman never discussed whether he ever tried any hair loss treatments, such as Minoxidil or Finasteride, but if he did, they did not seem to help. So he resorted to shaving his head, adopting a bad boy look. It was a good move, as it can be one of the best hairstyles for men with thin hair.
In the months leading up to his first hair restoration procedure, Gary had lost all the hair on his crown, frontal area and temples and maintained his clean-shaven head. At this point, a hair transplant was the only hair growth option available for him, as his androgenetic alopecia was already too advanced for non-surgical treatments.
Approximately half a year after his first hair restoration surgery, Gary was spotted by the paparazzi sporting some impressive new hair growth. There was unmistakeable progress regarding his appearance compared to a year back. However, it could be noticed that the transformation was not yet complete. The hair on the crown was still sparse. But that was soon about to change as the second stage of his hair transplant rolled around.
Only half a year after the final stage of his hair transplant, Gary walked into the Celebrity Big Brother house with a full head of hair. His strands were thick and dense and covered the entirety of his crown, with no more visible sparsity. The new look was likely a significant boost of confidence for the 58-year-old businessman, who had spent more than a decade having to shave his head because of male pattern baldness.
The businessman got a follicular unit extraction (FUE) hair restoration surgery. The popularity of this modern technique has been soaring in the past years, as more and more men opt for it. That is because unlike the older follicular unit transplantation (FUT) technique, which leaves a fine scar on the donor area, FUE produces virtually no scarring. It uses a specific tool to harvest each hair graft at a time, leaving only small punctures in your donor area. These heal completely in a few days, leaving no conspicuous marks.
Since Gary likes to wear his hair short, a scar from FUT surgery might have been visible on the back of his head, dispelling the natural-looking aura of his hair transplant. But since he opted for FUE, there is no imperfection to remind us that his hair was not always this full.
Gary got a total of 4700 hair grafts during his two-stage hair restoration procedure. The first stage involved the implantation of an initial 2500 grafts in the frontal area, while the second stage added another 2200 grafts to his crown.
According to the hair graft calculator, covering his entire scalp (including filling in his temples and lowering his hairline) would have required even more grafts than this. However, there needs to be sufficient donor hair available for an over 5000 graft surgery. And since Gary’s baldness was advanced, it is unlikely this was the case. Even if he did have enough healthy hair follicles at the back of his head, hair transplant overharvesting could have made his hair look sparse or patchy in the donor area. Moreover, given Gary’s age and history of androgenetic alopecia, an M-shaped hairline looks significantly more natural on him than a straight, youthful one would.
While Gary Goldsmith has decided to maintain discretion regarding his hair transplant cost, he did specify that it cost “less than a bespoke suit” [5] This shows that the businessman was happy with his investment. But how much could he have spent?
Our surgeons value their patient’s confidentiality and thus cannot disclose the exact amount Gary paid for his hair transplant. We can confidently say that his hair transplant would have been in line with a survey we conducted analysing over 100 hair transplant clinics in the UK.
Gary cited it was an easy decision to have his hair transplant in the UK because having a hair transplant in Turkey is not worth the risk. That is because Turkey has a significantly higher risk of complications and does not carry the same success rates compared to hair transplants in the UK [6][7]
If you are experiencing hair thinning, Gary’s formidable hair regrowth may have inspired you to consider getting surgery. If that is true, you would be in excellent company, as more and more singers, actors and footballers are getting hair transplants. And thanks to technological advancements that made this procedure affordable, so are many ordinary people.
The major advantage of hair restoration surgery compared to other treatments is that hair transplants are permanent. That means you may still be enjoying the luscious head of hair provided by your hair transplant after 10 years. And – as you have seen – you may be eligible to get this surgery even if your hair loss is too advanced to treat with medication.
If you are concerned about hair loss and find yourself hiding your thinning hair, then you may benefit from booking a consultation with world-class surgeons at the Wimpole Clinic – it’s completely free. They will walk you through the entire hair transplant process, answer all your questions and put your concerns at ease. And until your appointment, you can see our excellent results for yourself in our before and after hair transplant gallery.
Did you know that Gary may not be the only member of Kate Middleton’s family to have a hair transplant? Or are you curious to see how other celebrity hair transplants have turned out? Here are some more examples of famous people’s hair restoration journeys:
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