When We TV’s rebooted reality series “The Braxtons” debuts on Friday, Aug. 9, Towanda Braxton will bring new transparency to her experience with hair loss.
“I have alopecia, and I’m just wearing it loud and proud,” Braxton told People magazine at “The Braxtons” premiere at Atlanta’s Westside Cultural Arts Center on Thursday. “Being bald is amazing.”
The actress-producer has sported a bald look for several months, having shaved her head in solidarity with her late sister, Traci, who died of esophageal cancer in 2022. As Braxton shared in a revealing conversation with “Black America Web” in July, the look served a dual purpose, as initially, she “didn’t want everybody to know” she also had alopecia.
“I always knew that my hair was different,” she explained. “I always knew that it was something. I had a whole bunch of cowlicks growing up my hairline. My hairline was like here… and then it would grow back.”
Braxton spent years camouflaging her thinning hair with styling and wigs, even hiding her self-diagnosis of alopecia from her fiancé, Sean Hall, who initially shaved her head. Braxton was ultimately compelled to share her condition while planning the launch of her new scalp and skincare line. Upon disclosing her hair loss to Hall, he urged her to see a dermatologist for a formal diagnosis.
“She said I have alopecia — so yeah, I have alopecia,” said Braxton, explaining that getting “the diagnosis from the doctor” made it “real.”
“I felt relieved,” she recalled. “I was like, OK, I hate being right about that, but I was right about that,’ you know,” People reported.
Affecting approximately 2% of people worldwide, alopecia is hair loss that typically emerges in the first 40 years of life, but sometimes as early as childhood. The condition, which can be hereditary or non-hereditary and occur across genders, can cause partial or patchy hair loss anywhere on the body. While widely considered incurable, in some cases, hair may regrow, or regrow and fall out again in intervals that “occur throughout a person’s life,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology Association, People reported. Black women are particularly susceptible to traction alopecia, a form of the condition that can be triggered or exacerbated by styling techniques such as braids, chemical treatments and more.
“[T]here are so many different types of alopecia,” Braxton noted, urging those experiencing hair loss to seek a proper diagnosis. “[I]t’s important for you to find out which one you have.”
In addition to well-known faces like Jada Pinkett Smith and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), who have helped bring conversations about alopecia into the mainstream, Braxton is not the first of her family to showcase bald beauty. In recent years, sisters Tamar Braxton and Toni Braxton have also made headlines for their respective “big chops.” However, along with sharing the nuances of her late sister’s story, Braxton promises to bring her own hair journey to the screen in “The Braxtons.”
“For everyone else who’s going through the same journey … it’s OK, and your hair does not define who you are,” she told People on Thursday.
The affirmation echoes Braxton’s message in July: “You don’t have to walk in shame … You can walk long and strong, and walk in your greatness, not having hair.”
“The Braxtons” returns to We TV on Aug. 9 at 9:30 p.m. ET.