David Beckham has long been admired for his good looks and impeccable style. His hair in particular has always attracted attention over the years.
More recently, there have been rumors that Beckham has undergone a hair transplant to maintain his famous follicles. You might be wondering whether these rumors are true, so I’ve examined the evidence for and against the possibility.
So, let’s take a look at whether Beckham did get a hair transplant.
Did David Beckham get a hair transplant?
While he has never admitted it, it seems clear that David Beckham has undergone a hair transplant sometime in 2017 or 2018. His hairline has thickened significantly, after appearing in media pictures that showed it thinning at the start of that year.
Interestingly, Beckham had given an interview back in 2012 following fellow England soccer player Wayne Rooney’s hair transplant. During the interview, he said, “there’s definitely nothing wrong with doing that, but I don’t think I would.”
Well, it seems he changed his mind. He might not have announced it (for fairly obvious reasons) but it’s clear from pictures in 2018 that his hair had suddenly ‘regrown’. It was suddenly much thicker than it had been the prior year.
David Beckham sports darker barnet amid hair transplant rumours https://t.co/aW3YYs2C19 pic.twitter.com/ibNxRgm5Su
— Daily Star (@dailystar) September 24, 2018
In many of his social media posts in early 2018, he only appeared wearing hats. This is another sign that he was hiding the early recovery signs of his treatment.
British tabloid The Sun even asked a hair transplant surgeon to give their view, and they said that he “shows clear signs of having had a hair transplant.”
So even the experts agree. Not everyone is convinced though, with some people online arguing that the thinning look may have just been a ‘bad hair day’. The argument was there was no evidence of a scar from FUT treatment, nor any short-term loss of thickness that would be caused by FUE treatment.
It could be that he uses hair fibers – more on that later. Or it could be that he hasn’t had a transplant after all, and that he has managed his hair through effective styling that combs it over his receding areas.
On balance, it seems clear that the soccer icon has had a hair transplant. The most recent photo just shows that even with a transplant it can look thin when shaved close. But we probably won’t ever know for sure.
How did David Beckham regrow his hair?
David Beckham likely regrew his hair through a hair transplant, where healthy hair follicles are taken from a donor site – normally the back of the scalp, where hair is thicker – and then surgically inserted into the front or crown of the scalp where the hair is thinning.
The procedure is becoming a lot more popular with middle-aged men who wish to preserve their hairline. It’s a more permanent treatment than wearing a wig or toupee and looks more natural since it uses your existing hair.
Unlike some celebrities, Beckham has never admitted to having a hair transplant and likely won’t as he tries to protect his image. But most people still make the assumption that he underwent treatment after looking at the images of his hairline before and after.
Did David Beckham get a beard transplant?
There are rumors that David Beckham has had a beard transplant as well as a hair transplant, but there’s no way of knowing for sure. Beckham has always kept a shaven look with light stubble, so his beard may just be natural after he decided to grow it out.
The media love to speculate when someone as famous as Beckham changes their look. Sometimes, however, it’s just a style choice rather than a dramatic treatment.
Beckham always kept a clean-shaven appearance during his earlier career, before maintaining a light mustache/chin stubble look into the early 2010s.
But in 2015 things got a bit more wild and rugged with Beckham’s full-on fuzz which is when the gossip about a potential beard transplant began.
A beard transplant works in a similar way to a hair transplant. Hair is taken from a donor area, usually the backs and sides of the scalp, and then implanted into the face to cover any patchy areas.
The treatment tends to be more delicate than a hair transplant, and more time-consuming. Hair transplants to the scalp aren’t very painful, but the face has a lot more nerve endings. Only confident surgeons can offer this treatment without causing their patients a lot of pain.
I think it’s hard to make the call on whether Beckham has had a beard transplant. It certainly wouldn’t be beneath him, for someone who is so conscious of how they look and the influence that their ‘styles’ have on the fashion world.
But at the same time, you can make the argument that he has always been so meticulous in how he presents himself, that he could just have kept a short, shaved look by choice and then allowed it to grow out naturally, without the need for any enhancements.
Does Beckham use hair fibers?
It’s unclear whether David Beckham uses hair fibers, although he would likely opt for a more permanent treatment such as a hair transplant if he did want to enhance his hairstyle, so that would be more likely. Hair fibers are temporary and need to be reapplied regularly.
Hair fibers are a cheaper solution in the short term if you want to cover up your thinning hair. They’re applied as a powder or a spray, and are made from keratin, the same as natural human hair.
They stick to your existing hair using static electricity and make it appear fuller. They’re available in a wide range of colors, so it’s easy to match them to your hair. However, when you suddenly start using them they can make your hair appear a lot darker since it becomes instantly thicker.
The problem with hair fibers is that most of them only last until the next time you wash your hair. Even premium options tend to survive a day or two at most. So you’d have to assume Beckham, with his almost infinite budget, would opt for a more permanent treatment instead of having to constantly re-apply fibers, especially with his very public lifestyle.
Beckham’s hair through the years
Most people can change their hairstyle without much fuss, but not David Beckham. From the moment he first came to prominence whilst playing for Manchester United, his looks have undergone huge scrutiny in both the British and global media.
So let’s have a recap of the many, many hairstyles that Becks has sported over the years that he has been in the spotlight.
Beckham joined Manchester United in 1992 but didn’t make his debut until 1995, following a loan spell with a lower-league club. At the time, his hairstyle was quite simple – thick and full with a side parting.
By 1996 he was gaining notoriety, and he debuted an ‘eboy’ cut, known as a curtains style in the UK. This was a center parting that flopped down on both sides of his head, with a notable widow’s peak.
He kept this style for a couple of years, eventually getting long enough to comb it further back. It was around 1998 when his celebrity status started to peak, probably aided when he was red-carded in a World Cup game against Argentina, with the British media blaming him for the country’s exit.
Two years later, Beckham made his next drastic hairstyle change, shaving most of his hair and leaving a mohawk.
This didn’t last too long, and he soon shaved it off completely.
For the next few years, he let it grow out into a wilder spiked look, bleaching the tips of his year. He would occasionally spike it centrally for a semi-mohawk, or just let it spike in an inconsistent style.
*image*
Into the 2003/4 era, Beckham made his big-money move to Spanish giants Real Madrid. His hair was making waves too – he grew it out and would mix between a top knot and a ponytail, occasionally wearing an Alice band and letting it down.
By 2006, Becks had cut his hair shorter, first shaving it before growing it closer in length to his hair in 2002, although this time without the blonde finish. He shortened it again to a closer cut with his moves to LA Galaxy and AC Milan, where signs of his receding hairline began around the temples.
Beckham continued to grow out his hair, beginning to sport a slicked-back style which he sported at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.
This was a style he preserved for a few years, with a few occasional changes. He always reverted to a similar style, although he did introduce the bushy beard in 2015.
That was until 2017 when he shaved it close, and for the first time, his hair really appeared to be thinning on top.
The following year he made appearances in Hong Kong and that’s where his supposed hair transplant seemed to be clear.
He then grew his hair out through 2019 and 2020, showing off a thick style once again.
In his most recent photos in media appearances at the Qatar World Cup, his full thick hair has returned.
Which celebrities have had hair transplants?
Not many celebrities have admitted to having had hair transplants, but it seems likely some have. Wayne Rooney, the soccer star who played for DC United, has admitted it. Major movie stars like John Travolta and Jeremy Piven have done too.
With some celebrities, like it is with Beckham, the evidence is a little more inconclusive. It seems like Steve Carell has had a hair transplant but it’s harder to tell since he wasn’t extremely thin on top beforehand.
The treatment is certainly becoming more popular among major celebrities, and it’s likely that it will soon become more accepted to talk about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing celebrities admitting they’ve undergone a hair transplant in the next 5-10 years.
All they need is a good sponsorship contract, after all!
Summary
Celebrities like David Beckham are rarely honest about their hair transplants. We’ll likely never know for absolutely certain that he has had one – although most of the evidence points to the fact that he has.
While many men embrace a receding hairline by shaving it bald, that’s never seemed to suit Becks, who loves to change his hair almost as often as he changes his clothes. So if he needed a hair transplant to allow him to do so, then that’s his choice.
Though maybe he should take some inspiration from famous bald athletes and just accept that the shaved look is awesome.
