WAYNE BRIDGE showed off the results of his hair transplant - after getting the green light from his Loose Women star wife.
Bridge, 44, made his name and fortune after breaking through at Southampton to earn his transfer to Chelsea in 2003
After six years at Stamford Bridge, he joined Manchester City then finished his club career with Reading in 2014.
He also racked up 36 senior England caps, including featuring at the 2002 World Cup.
But since hanging up his boots a decade ago, the former left-back has noticed he has been thinning on top.
And so he opted to get the treatment done to give himself a thicker mop - in turn giving himself a new boost of confidence.
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Bridge is married to former Saturdays singer and Loose Women host Frankie Sandford and revealed she was on board with him getting the procedure done.
The ex-footballer headed to a high-end Harley Street clinic - DHI Global - to get the work done.
It involved removing 4,085 hair follicles individually and then replanting them in the balder areas with a special pen - without the need to shave the whole head.
Bridge said: "I had the hair transplant because I wanted to boost my confidence.
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"I have been suffering from hair loss since my mid-30s and I just felt it would give me a bit of a boost to get it sorted. So many men are getting help with their hair and it is really no big deal.
"I told Frankie what I was doing and she was really supportive.
Frankie Bridge shows 'what's in my bag' including Christmas snack she eats for breakfast & item she had to stop husband Wayne stealing
"She said, 'Go for it,' and supports anything that makes me feel better about myself."
Bridge added: "I used to like wearing my hair long but my thinning hair became more noticeable when I grew it. I thought of just shaving it all off but a better solution was a hair transplant.
"You hear about women having procedures to improve their appearance all the time and it is great that it is no big deal for men now, too.
"It is great that we can all be open about it and hopefully we will inspire more men to seek help. The boost in confidence can be really good for your mental health."
The 4 stages of the hair growth cycle
Hair experts at Philip Kingsley shared the four stages of the hair growtn cycle are: Anagen, Catagen, Telogen and Exogen
Anagen Phase: Also known as the ‘Growth Phase’ or ‘Active Phase’, is when the cells in the root of your hair are most rapidly dividing so more new hair is formed.
During the Anagen Phase, hair grows around half an inch a month [about six inches a year], and faster in the summer than in winter.
This phase of the hair growth cycle lasts an average of three to five years.
Catagen Phase: Following the Anagen Phase, your hair cycle enters a short transitional phase known as the Catagen Phase, which signals the end of active hair growth and cuts individual hairs off from the blood supply and from the cells that produce new hair.
Approximately three percent of all hairs are in this stage at any time and it lasts for around 10 days.
Telogen Phase: The third stage of your natural hair growth cycle is the Telogen Phase, a resting period when strands remain in their follicles but are not actively growing.
An estimate of 10-15 percent of your hairs are in the Telogen Phase at any given moment.
The Telogen Phase lasts around three months or 100 days.
Exogen Phase: The final stage of the Hair Growth Cycle, when individual hair strands are released from their follicles and fall out.
Now the whole process begins again.
Bridge revealed he was inspired to get the treatment after a celebrity friend recommended the London specialists, whose treatments start from £3,000 and where cricketer Phil Tufnell went for his new look.
He explained: "I bumped into him at a wedding and his hair looked great.
"He explained that he had gone to DHI because the treatment is so discreet and no one knows you have had it done until all the hair has grown back.
"I wanted the very best treatment in the world with the shortest downtime and that was always going to be DHI.
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"You read about patients going abroad for hair transplants but that was never going to be an option for me.
"The best clinics in the world are here and it is reassuring to know that the team is next to Harley Street for the aftercare. Who wants to jump on a flight to check on their hair if something goes wrong?
"What I particularly like about this treatment is that you don't have to have your entire head shaved.
"They literally pick the donor hairs out and then implant them directly where you have the bald spots with very little fuss.
"There is very little disturbance to the scalp and the final results are completely natural.
"It means the downtime after the operation is minimal and I can quickly get back to doing what I love, which is staying fit and enjoying time with my family."
Bridge tied the knot with glamorous Frankie in July 2014 - nine months after their son Parker was born.
Their second son Carter arrived in August 2015.
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The ex-footballer appeared in the 2016 series of I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here and then won the debut season of SAS: Who Dares Wins after trekking a glacier in Chile.
He is also a keen poker player and admitted his style can be "kamikaze" when he appears in tournaments.
