Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Prince William: why bald is the new sexy, despite ease of hair loss treatments

Linked to notions of virility, strength and masculinity, hair was once so important in Hollywood that leading bald men would wear wigs while on-screen

The situation is markedly different today, with the normalisation of baldness coming at a time when the science of hair loss has never been more advanced

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Prince William was crowned the “world’s sexiest bald man” after a study published in a British newspaper. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 4:15am, 6 Jul 2021Updated: 10:51am, 6 Jul 2021

As a leading member of the British royal family, Prince William is one of the most famous men in the world. By dint of his male pattern baldness, he’s one of the most famous bald men, too.

In March, the prince was crowned, so to speak, the “world’s sexiest bald man” after a study published in a British newspaper found that he was most often linked to the word “sexy” on Google search trends compared to other famous baldies.

Unsurprisingly, the study, and Prince William beating the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, Stanley Tucci and Vin Diesel, became a hot topic of debate on social media.

Tucci fans, in particular, were vocal about their man not even making the top 10. For a brief moment, the 60-year-old actor was trending worldwide on Twitter with fans decrying “Tucci erasure”.

Jason Statham at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California. Photo: WireImage

Tucci-gate was instructive, as it illustrated how “bald is sexy” has become normalised in Western pop culture, despite huge advances in the science to stop hair loss.