TOWIE stars are often very open and honest about their health battles; Gemma Collins has spoken out about living with PCOS, Sam Faiers has opened up about her Crohn’s diagnosis and now another Essex celeb has bared all.
Rick Rayment - who featured on the show from series four to 14 - has opened up about battling with alopecia in the hopes of helping other people who may have it.
"Embracing my alopecia! I normally always have a beard to try and hide it but I thought f--k it, who cares," he wrote on Instagram.
"I know it’s only a few patches and people suffer a lot worse than me but it is something that I’m very self conscious about.
"So I thought I’d do a post about it so that maybe it would help other sufferers embrace it and say the same as me: F U Alopecia!! Who cares, we living babyyyy! 🤪 let’s get it champs, the show goes on 😝💪🏻 #alopecia #whocares #weliving #letsgetit".
Hundreds of his followers rushed to praise him for his brave post with Demi Sims writing, "Go on Ricky 🙌🙌🙌".
Another person wrote, "I've got it too but at the front of my hair sadly mine hasn't grown back. You are rocking it though 🔥".
Someone else advised, "Castor oil! that's all you need. i won't fully go away but it really helps."
Check out: TOWIE babies
TOWIE babies slider
Amy Childs
The first of the really big names to come from TOWIE, Amy quit the show in 2011 and welcomed her first daughter, Polly, in 2017. She also has a son from a different relationship who she's kept out of the limelight, but accidentally revealed his name was Ritchie in an interview.
Georgina Cleverly
Georgina Cleverley – née Dorset – was only on the show for two series and went on to have a two sons with her footballer hubby Tom, who she keeps off social media.
Sam Faiers
Sam is mum to daughter Rosie and a son called Paul, who she named after her husband, also called Paul. "We always wanted him to be named Paul after his dad," she said."It's traditional and we didn't have any other names on the list, so he's Paul, and his middle name is Tony after Paul's brother, his Uncle Tony."She's made a household name for herself and her family with her hit reality show, The Mummy Diaries.
Billy Faiers
Sam's lookalike big sister Billie is also a mum to two kids of her own, sharing daughter Nelly (five) and son Arthur (three) with her husband Greg Shepherd.
Kirk Norcross
Despite being TOWIE's original bad boy, Kirk has overhauled his image in the last few years to be the ultimate family man. He's dad to son Harry, three, and daughter Violett, four - although Violett doesn't feature on his Instagram after her mum made it clear she didn't want her in the public eye.
Maria Fowler
Maria is mum to four-year-old Evie who she shares with husband Kelvin Batey, and earlier this year revealed on Instagram that they were preparing to welcome baby number two.Back in 2018, Maria revealed she had suffered a miscarriage, writing on Instagram, "I feel silly even referring to it as a baby as we were really early in the pregnancy and had not yet had a scan but I did grieve and I did feel like I had lost something very special."I feel it is such a cruel twist of fate to get such happy news and then have it taken away. Just like that. No explanation."
Chloe Sims
Chloe was already a mum when she joined the cast of TOWIE back in 2011. Her daughter Madison is now 15, and largely stays out of the public eye, although last year Chloe finally revealed Madison's dad was still a close pal, posting a picture to Instagram and writing, "So lots of people have always been interested in who is Maddie's dad, well, here he is..."I was 18, he was 24... all you nosy f--ckers who wanted to know, here he is!"
Dan Osborne
TOWIE lothario Dan Osborne already had a son, Teddy, with ex Megan Tomlin when he joined TOWIE. After he was booted in 2015, Dan married EastEnders star Jaqueline Jossa and they have two daughters together, Mia and Ella.
Lucy Mecklenburgh
Lucy Mecklenburgh quit TOWIE all the way back in 2013 and since then has had success as an influencer and fitness guru. In 2020 she welcomed her first child with her fiancé, Corrie actor Ryan Thomas, a son they named Roman.
Lydia Bright
How cute is this? Long-term best pals Lucy and Lydia were both pregnant at the same time and gave birth just weeks apart. Lydia is going it alone as a single mother to baby Loretta, after splitting with Loretta's dad Lee Cronin during her pregnancy.
Ferne McCann
One of TOWIE's most high profile mums, Ferne McCann welcomed her daughter Sunday in 2017following a difficult few months. Shortly before announcing her pregnancy Ferne's boyfriend Arthur Collins was arrested and charged with an acid attack in an East London club that left two victims blind. And weeks before Sunday was born he was sentenced to 20 years.
Mario Falcone
TOWIE OG Mario left the show after 15 series, and in 2018 welcomed a son, Parker Jax,with his fiancée Becky Meisner.
Chloe Lewis
Chloe quit the show in 2019 after revealing she'd found herself a new relationship and it wasn't long before she and new man Danny Flasher announced they were expecting. They welcomed a healthy baby boy, Beau Lewis, in October 2019.
Jake Hall
Meanwhile, Chloe's TOWIE boyfriend Jake Hall went on to have a family of his own. Despite an at times messy relationshipwith Real Housewives of Cheshire's Misse Beqiri, the couple welcomed a daughter in 2018, who they named River.
Billi Mucklow
Billi Mucklow, who left TOWIE in 2013, must certainly have her hands full with her huge blended family with footballer fiancé Andy Carroll. The couple are raising Andy's kids from a previous relationship, Lucas and Emilie, and have two of their own together, Arlo and Wolf. In early 2020 they announced they were expecting AGAIN. Phew.
Danielle Armstrong
Danielle Armstrong welcomed her first child with long-term pal Tom Edney in May 2020 after being "pregnant forever" and begging fans for tips on inducing labour. She took to Instagram to update followers on the birth, writing, "My world Is complete ud83dudc76ud83cudffcud83dudc95 Orla Mae Edney Born May 26th at 16:30pm, weighing a healthy 8Ibs11".
Lauren Pope
Lauren quit TOWIE in 2019 after a staggering nine years on the show. In July 2020, she and her boyfriend welcome a little girl called Raine Anais Keterman.
Sam Mucklow and Shelby Tribble
After a whopping three-day labour, Sam and Shelby welcomed their first child, a boy, in November 2020. "Shelby and our beautiful baby boy are both well and healthy," he wrote on Instagram. "Shelby didn't have a straightforward labour so she has been in hospital for five days. She has been an absolute soldier."
Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet
TOWIE's power couple Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet welcomed their baby boy Brody on 5th May, 2021. They even reveal that "Mallet" is not actually Tommy's surname, when they introduced baby as Brody Fordham.
Lauren Goodger
After years of dreaming of being a mum, Lauren finally welcomed her first child, a daughter called Larose, In July 2021. Sadly when Larose was just a couple of months old, Lauren split from the baby's dad Charles Drury, but is smashing being a single mum.
A fourth said, "Ahh Ricky what a fabulous post. I think it is great when people with a platform like yourself speak out. It really does make a difference! X".
One more added, "My husband has this and is so conscious of it. Thank you for sharing xx".
WATCH: Ferne McCann teases TOWIE 10 year reunion 😱
READ MORE
TOWIE couple CONFIRM shock reunion as they're spotted secretly kissing
TOWIE's Danielle Armstrong speaks out over 'drink driving' accusation
In June, ITV bosses confirmed that TOWIE would return (after it was postponed due to coronavirus) with former cast member reuniting for the 10-year anniversary.
"We're thrilled to be welcoming back new and old faces for the upcoming mega-series as the show celebrates this special anniversary," Paul Mortimer, Head of Digital Channels and Acquisitions for ITV, said in a statement.
"After 10 years, TOWIE is still going strong and remains the number one show on ITVBe."
Amy Childs has already confirmed that she'll be returning, we wonder whether Ricky will too...