1 week Ago By Sami Quadri
TV presenter Melanie Sykes has opened up about her health struggles, revealing she is battling alopecia and heart problems brought on by stress. The 54-year-old star shared an image on Instagram clearly showing a bald patch on the side of her head, blaming it on " PTSD , shock, mistreatment and malpractice." In her emotional post, Mel wrote: "This is a pic of me I took last week whilst in London investigating some health issues.
I am experiencing alopecia and heart issues due to all that has happened over the last few months. PTSD , shock, mistreatment and malpractice." She continued: "This country must do better, and get better.
Our health services are utterly shocking bar a few and rare decent humans who listen without prejudice and judgement. It is a lottery who you will encounter and how that experience can play out." Despite her health struggles, Mel insisted she remains "full of love, hope and happiness.
" In a separate video posted to her YouTube channel, the presenter further explained her conditions, linking her alopecia and irregular heartbeat to stress triggered by recent allegations about her former colleague, Gino D'Acampo . TV chef D'Acampo has been accused of inappropriate and intimidating behaviour spanning 12 years, allegations he strongly denies. Mel, who worked with him on ITV's Let's Do Lunch, described how the news profoundly affected her.
She said: "I am experiencing alopecia in quite a significant way. I have lost inches off my hairline at the back. I have probably got half my hair at the moment.
" Recalling the night the allegations broke, Mel said: "The night that it all broke about Gino D'Acampo, I didn't sleep a wink. I remember thinking, god if I can't sleep because it has brought everything back to me, how the f*** is he feeling? I actually felt sorry for him." She continued: "What he has said and does, and alleged to have said and done.
.. It's so heinous.
He must feel like s*** about himself, unless he's a complete narcissist and thinks that's okay. Who knows, I'm not a psychotherapist and I haven't studied him but I've experienced him." Melanie has previously spoken openly about her own experiences of "misogyny" in the TV industry, claiming she left television altogether in 2021 following an inappropriate remark from former MasterChef judge Gregg Wallace.
"I feel like I was in a war zone in that industry – 24 years of battling through an industry that didn't feel right to me anyway," she previously said. "If you're spending all your time cleaning up people's s***, just clean the house, clean out the house and start again, that's all I'm saying." Explaining her current medical situation, Mel revealed she has sought advice from specialists who believe her hair will grow back with treatment.
She is also working with cardiologists about her heart issues, though she initially felt dismissed due to her autism and ADHD. "I'm having a heart monitor sent to the house and I have got to wear it for two days to monitor the sound of it," she explained, adding that she has begun using cannabis under medical supervision to help manage her symptoms. Mel, who initially rose to fame as a model in the 1990s, hosted Let's Do Lunch with Gino and Mel alongside D'Acampo between 2011 and 2014.
The pair also appeared together on Celebrity Juice, a show she has since criticised. "Celebrity Juice was an abomination, the industry creates monsters," she previously said. "I remember once when Gino said to me he can just go up to the powers that be and knock on the door and go in, he doesn't need a meeting.
He was quite pleased with himself that he could do that." Alopecia is a condition characterised by hair loss, which can occur suddenly and unpredictably. It is often triggered by stress, trauma, or autoimmune responses.
While it can be distressing, treatment and management options can help hair regrowth..
