Miss England winner from Derbyshire used eye shadow to cover up baldness

NHS doctor Bhasha Mukherjee, 27, was the longest serving Miss England in the competition's 93 year history after she was crowned in 2019. But she has now spoken for the first time about how she suffered low self esteem due to thinning hair while trying to maintain "unrealistic" beauty standards.

Bhasha says she wore hair extensions to hide her thinning locks and used eye shadow to fill in bald patches while strutting down the catwalk. Four years on, she says she now wants to highlight the taboo subject which women rarely openly talk about in a bid to destigmatise female-pattern baldness.

She said: "There is an insane amount of pressure put on women, especially those in the public eye, to present thick luscious yet always perfectly styled hair all the time. Having beautiful hair is almost an imperative feature of womanhood, so much so that the topic of hair loss in women is a taboo.

"I've personally felt ashamed to talk about experiencing hair loss, a very common occurrence for thousands of young women as a result of the modern stressful, unhealthy lifestyle, harmful hair products and heat tools.

"All these things do so much damage to your hair and it's a common problem but it's a subject many young women especially don't feel comfortable about discussing.

"I've had to wear hair extensions, used eye shadow to cover thinning areas and so many other steps over the years, including during my reign as Miss England. It becomes almost normalised to wear extensions or hair pieces but it's all fake and hides the reality of who you really are.

"Female pattern hair loss should be destigmatised. I want to empower more women to talk more openly about it. Being from an Indian heritage, people assume you will have thick black hair but it should not be a defining feature of femininity.

"Hair loss or thinning hair is also seen as more shameful as say blemishes for example and it should not be that way. Many people will think it only happens in older women but that isn't the case. It should not be a taboo subject to talk about."

Bhasha, of Derby, has spoken out after Miss England announced a hair loss brand will become the first British company to sponsor the competition in 20 years.