Melanie Sykes has shared an uplifting new health update after bravely revealing she is now “two-thirds bald” as she battles an autoimmune condition.
The 55-year-old TV favourite, who has stepped back from the spotlight in recent months, has been candid about her struggles — previously admitting she has been in “so much pain” after spending much of the year unwell. Hair loss, inflammation and ongoing health complications have left fans deeply concerned.
But in her latest Instagram video, Mel appeared radiant and optimistic as she addressed followers directly.
“How are you doing? I’m good. I can’t stop grinning,” she said warmly. “I did a meditation last night — it was a guided one on Insight Timer — and it encouraged you to smile. Even if you’re not feeling it emotionally, just smile with your eyes closed. And it changes your mood, man.”
She urged fans to remember the simple act of smiling can shift perspective. “So just remember you can always smile. And I don’t mean like through gritted teeth.”
Later in the clip, she spoke openly about her emotional journey, explaining she feels she is experiencing both trauma and growth at the same time.
“I just wanted to share my good feelings today. Like I’m vibrating high. Even the most difficult times do pass. They just do,” she said. “I just want to use this term post-traumatic growth. It’s real. You can be suffering with PTSD but at the same time be experiencing post-traumatic growth. I’m in both camps — because you can be two things at once.”
Mel added: “It’s not one or the other, it’s both. And as long as I attend to myself and what makes me happy and also feel grief about whatever has gone on and process it and move on from it, we can transcend all pain. We can transcend all trauma. We can be changed. And I am living proof of that.”
She ended her heartfelt message by telling fans: “I just wanted to share that today and I wish you a fabulous Friday. Speak to you soon. Ta-ra.”
‘Two-Thirds Bald’ Revelation
Just days earlier, Mel shocked followers when she revealed the extent of her hair loss.
“I’ve got an autoimmune condition, I am losing my hair, I keep having crazy inflammation all over and I am working on healing,” she explained in another video.
Over the past three months, she completed a meditation teacher training course — though she admitted her health forced her to miss the final days. “I was too ill to finish it. The last two days of it I couldn’t do.”
While she clarified she doesn’t necessarily want to teach meditation, she described herself as living “a very, very, very spiritual existence” since her diagnosis.
Mel, who has previously spoken about alopecia and a heart condition, has increasingly turned to faith and spirituality since her health struggles intensified last April.
“Life is so, so good, and I know it because I’m right here right now and there’s nothing to fear,” she reflected. “The more I tune into faith and believing that all is well because it is — because I’m experiencing it — it’ll only get better.”
Despite the visible toll on her health, Mel insisted she doesn’t want illness to define her. “We don’t need to bring that to the conversation. It’s not like I’m hiding it. I’d just rather have conversation about something else because I’ve got that down and I’m healing myself.”
