Yesterday evening, Michelle L’amour – Miss Exotic World 2005 and celebrated superstar of contemporary burlesque – unveiled a surprise video statement, revealing a painful disease she has lived with since childhood – Alopecia.
Michelle L’amour told 21st Century Burlesque Magazine: “Today, I revealed myself in ways that I never have. I fully embraced what it means to be ‘The Most Naked Woman’. I have hid this secret from friends, from some family, and from fans.
“This has been a battle I have fought for most of my life, 30 years. When I was a child, I didn’t really understand it and I wasn’t self aware enough to care. What I remember from that period is that I got a wig and it fell off during a rousing game of ‘duck, duck, goose’ in kindergarten. Many of you have asked me in the past why I don’t wear wigs. That was why. It was a terrible day when everyone laughed at me and I came home with my wig askew, crying to my mother and telling her that I was never wearing a wig again! That was the moment when I realized the importance of honesty. I vowed from that day forward to live honestly.
“Alopecia has shaped me and it is the reason why I believe that everyone is beautiful, if only they could see it! It’s my job to help people realize that and to embrace it. These past few years, when my disease escalated again, I have had to do this work for myself. It’s been very hard. I straddled the worlds of ‘a girl losing her hair’ and ‘glamorous burlesque star’. The conflict was too much to bear. It has taken me a long time to get to this point where I could share this with you. I am happy to do it. I hope that in doing so, we can take comfort in each other and know that we are not alone. #beautyistruth ”
Watch Michelle L’amour’s emotional video statement below.
So brave — so brave,