Ricki Lake ‘Overwhelmed’ by Support Shown Following Shaved Head Reveal

Ricki Lake is overwhelmed with the amount of support she’s receiving from followers and fans across the board since coming forward about her struggle. The former talk show host was caught outside of LAX by TMZ and when she was asked how everything has been since shaving her head and sharing her heartbreaking, but inspiring story with fans, she said it’s been “amazing.”

“It’s been amazing. It’s really been overwhelming and I’m delighted that people have been so supportive of me,” she said as she was walking into the airport.

Lake recently buzzed her head before revealing that she had struggled with hair loss most of her adult life — a struggle that lead her to have suicidal thoughts.

“Liberated and Free, Me. First things first, I am not sick. (THANK GOD.) I am not having a mid-life crisis. nor am I having a mental breakdown, though I have been suffering,” she wrote. “Suffering mostly in silence off and on for almost 30 years. AND I am finally ready to share my secret.

“Deep breath Ricki…. Here goes….. I have been struggling with hair loss for most of my adult life,” she continued. “It has been debilitating, embarrassing, painful, scary, depressing, lonely, all the things. There have been a few times where I have even felt suicidal over it. Almost no one in my life knew the level of deep pain and trauma I was experiencing. Not even my therapist/s over the years knew my truth.

“I know that by sharing my truth, I will be striking a chord with so so many women and men. I am not alone in this and my goal is to help others while at the same time unshackle myself from this quiet hell I have been living in,” she wrote. “Ever since I played Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray back in 1988 and they triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every 2 weeks during filming, my hair was never the same. (Yes, that was all my own hair in the film.) From Hairspray to Hairless. [sad emoticon]. In my case, I believe my hair loss was due to many factors, yo-yo dieting, hormonal birth control, radical weight fluctuations over the years, my pregnancies, genetics, stress, and hair dyes and extensions. Working as talent on various shows and movies, whether DWTS or my talk show, also took its toll on my fine hair.

“I got used to wearing extensions, really just over the last decade. All different kinds, tried them all, the ones that are glued on, the tape-ins, the clip ins, and then into a total hair system that I hated, and finally to a unique solution that really did work pretty well for me for the last 4 or 5 years. I tried wigs on a few occasions but never could get used to them. It all felt fake and I was super self-conscious and uncomfortable,” she went on. “I’ve been to many doctors, gotten steroid shots in my head, taking all the supplements and then some. My hair would recover and then shed again. It was maddening,” she concluded.

The Masked Singer alum went on to share a few reasons that may have contributed to her painful situation that she described as “depressing,” “scary,” “painful,” “embarrassing” and “debilitating,” including her time when she was featured in 1988’s Hairspray. The “triple-processed and teased my then healthy virgin hair every two weeks during filming,” caused damage that her body never recovered from.

Other factors included birth control, pregnancies, stress of showbiz, various dyes and extensions. Although she gave almost every solution a go to try and aid in hair growth, nothing quite worked. Then, she decided to just shave it off which was a liberating feeling for the 51-year-old, and now, she’s all smiles thanks to the love and support she’s received from everyone.