Rob Lowe has a new show debuting in the U.K., but he has not exactly done himself a favor when trying to gain fans there. The former West Wing actor bashed Prince William‘s increasingly receding hairline and royal family fans did not go easy on him.
In an interview with The Telegraph to help promote ITV’s Wild Bill, the 55-year-old was asked if he was “more or less vain than British men.” “That’s a low bar!” Lowe said.
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He then asked The Telegraph if they could talk about Prince William.
“I mean the future king of your country let himself lose his own hair! So when I say British men set a very low bar…” Lowe said, trailing off. “Honestly, one of the great traumatic experiences of my life was watching Prince William lose his hair.”
“But he’s going to be the f–ing King of England!” Lowe continued. “And… and there’s a pill! The first glimmer that a single hair of mine was going to fall out, I was having stuff mainlined into my f–ing veins. And that’s what I did for the next thirty years.”
Lowe’s comments did not make many people happy, especially since Prince William remains a popular figure in the U.K. He will eventually follow Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles as the King of England, after all.
“[Rob Lowe] has some nerve talking about trauma with William’s hairline,” one Twitter user wrote. “Men with receding hairlines simply have more testosterone in their bodies than men with full heads of hair. This is not a bad or traumatic thing. It’s called nature.”
“Congrats on your comments regarding Prince William’s baldness, a subject which you apparently consider worthy of ridicule,” another person wrote. “You have a new TV show about to start and then you go an alienate royalists, monarchists, those with any hair loss and, well, intelligent people.”
“Get a grip Lowe, not every guy has such low self esteem that they also feel the need to wear a rug,” another wrote.
“So weird! Why does it matter if Prince William is losing his hair? That has nothing to do with him becoming King,” another chimed in.
Lowe recently spent four months filming Wild Bill in the U.K. In the series, he plays Bill Hixon, an American police officer who is hired as the new East Lincolnshire Police Force chief constable after his wife died. Angela Griffin (Coronation Street) co-stars as a local journalist who is “determined to exploit poor Bill and turn him into the Meghan Markle of Lincolnshire,” Lowe told The Telegraph.
Lowe will next be seen on TV in his native country on FOX’s 9-1-1: Lone Star, an Austin, Texas-set spin-off of 9-1-1. In the new series, he will play another “fish-out-of-water” character, as a New York police officer who moves to Texas with son.
“Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear’s ability to make smart, unique, great television is unmatched. I’m elated to join this team,” Lowe said in a statement last month.
Wild Bill will air on ITV Wednesdays at 9 p.m., starting on June 12 in the U.K. It does not have a U.S. home yet.
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