CELEBRITY INTERVIEW
MY LIFE IN HEALTH
Broadcaster and podcast host Gabby Logan, who turns 51 on April 24, knows all about the confidence-boosting power of having healthy hair. She talks to Joanna Ebsworth about hair disasters, caring for her locks during perimenopause and staying strong from the inside out.
I’ve learnt so much about hair health since talking to lots of experts on my podcast. It’s called The Mid·Point With Gabby Logan, and it’s all about facing the challenges of being in midlife, as well as challenging expectations. These days, I think we’re not so willing to accept the concerns we face every day with our hair, like hair shedding or poor scalp health, because it has such an emotional impact on us. Hair loss was always traditionally seen as a male problem, but more and more women are talking about it, and it can happen at any stage. Our confidence shouldn’t be detrimentally affected by our hair, and I feel we’re lucky to live in this age where we can all talk about our issues.
My hair is my coat of confidence. It’s always felt like that for me. If I was going out for lunch and you told me I had to choose bet ween either having my make-up or hair done professionally, I’d always want my hair done because I feel I can take on the world when my hair looks good. I think your hair becomes even more important to you as you get older. Maybe it’s because your face changes and you don’t have that dew y freshness and “springbackability” of youth where you can just throw your hair in a bun and skip along, but I always feel I can accomplish anything when I’ve had my hair professionally done.
I like my hair to look good when I’m presenting on TV. And you know why? Because it’s so distracting when somebody’s hair is a mess on telly, especially when a newsreader has a hair out of place. It really bothers me because it’s distracting, and that means the message isn’t being heard. In my job, I want the message I’m talking about to come out. I don’t want you sitting at home going, “Oh, I don’t like the way her collar is sitting”, or “she needs to pull a comb through her hair”!
I don’t think it matters what hairstyle you have if your hair is healthy. When I was a kid, it was all about looking through magazines to find out what the trendiest haircut or colour was, but it feels like anything goes now so long as your hair isn’t brittle or broken off. All the experimenting I did with colouring and different haircuts over the years definitely affected my hair condition, along with several other factors like my lifestyle and nutrition. But I think my hair was at its lowest point about fi
