James Nesbitt has revealed the reason why he had fake eyebrows when appearing on Tuesday's The One Show instead of his trademark bushy brows.
The 56-year-old star of Cold Feet had been the subject of speculation by viewers of the BBC show, who queried on social media as to why he had such unusual eyebrows.
The actor has said that he has been facing a secret battle with alopecia, which has impacted the growth of his eyebrows and beard.
MailOnline has reported that his appearance was due to him just coming off the set of his new Netflix series, Stay Close, and that his hair and make-up had been done by the team there.
The outlet reported that a source close to the Irish actor said: "James has no issue at all with having Alopecia. He's been living with it for some time and it does not affect his life in any way.
"James has never tried to hide it while away from filming. But when he's in character, it's normal for make-up to be applied on that area where there is now no hair."
James has a common condition that affects two per cent of the UK population which is called Alopecia Areata and it is an unpredictable autoimmune ailment.
The condition can cause a loss of hair on the face, scalp and body but with James, it is just his eyebrows and some parts of his beard which are affected.
Despite this, James has had six hair transplants, at a cost of £20,000, which he claims has nothing to do with the condition.
James has been open about the cosmetic procedures and has said that he has landed some major TV roles with the help of the transplants.
Speaking in 2017, he said: "I've just had my last one. I went public with it. I was very happy to be open about it. I just thought, 'Come on, somebody is going to say it before I say it.'
"It was something I struggled with. And that was probably the vanity in me. But also career-wise, it had an impact.
"In terms of the range of leading roles I've had since then, it's probably helped."
James appeared on The One Show as the UK ambassador for the charity UNICEF and spoke to hosts Sam Quek and Jermaine Jenas about his work with them and about Soccer Aid.
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