France’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe, a leading contender to succeed President Emmanuel Macron in 2027 elections, has opened up about a hair loss condition he says will not diminish his political ambition.
The 52-year-old politician, who spearheaded the government’s fight against the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, was a familiar face on television with his trademark brown beard.
Since leaving the post in the summer of 2020 and working as mayor of the Normandy port of Le Havre, his appearance has drastically changed with his hair and beard thinning and turning white suddenly.
“This is what had happened to me: I lost my eyebrows, and I don’t think they will come back,” he told BFMTV in an interview late Thursday.
“My beard has turned white, it’s falling out a bit and the hair too.
“The moustache is gone, I don’t know if it will come back, but I would be surprised,” he said.
“I have what is called alopecia,” he added, opening up about the auto-immune condition that accelerates hair loss.