Last Updated on 22nd January 2020 by Caroline Haye
Raising awareness of this misunderstood skin condition is not part of a celebrity’s job description. But it does help.
Most sources on the subject estimate the percentage of the global population with #vitiligo is between 0.5% and 2%. This does not exactly make it a common condition (like eczema, for example, which reportedly affects approximately 10 – 20% of the population). But it does mean that approximately one person in every hundred we meet has it. And, of course, it also follows that one in every hundred celebrities has vitiligo. So the fact that many people have still never even heard the terms vitiligo or leukoderma is surprising.
I believe that a major reason for this widespread ignorance is embarrassment… Because vitiligo tends to undermine a person’s self-confidence in a way that the more widely-known skin conditions don’t. The loss of skin colour, for various psychological, historical and cultural reasons, is still a source of shame and stigmatisation for some. (Unbelievable though this may seem in the 21st century.) And it is therefore something they often prefer to keep, literally, under wraps… Hence, to a large degree, vitiligo has remained a secret.
Vitiligo does not discriminate
The incidence of vitiligo is not thought to vary according to race or gender. And the only thing that may skew the expected statistics relates to enviromental factors. Since individuals whose work brings them into regular or prolonged contact with certain chemicals can suffer pigment loss (known as occupational vitiligo or chemical leukoderma).
Other than that, vitiligo affects doctors, salespeople, teachers, gardeners, road sweepers, executives and shopkeepers alike. So it should come as no surprise that #celebrities have it, just the same as us every-day folk!
I suppose the reason it comes as a slight surprise all the same is because of the cult of celebrity. It has us half-believing that famous people lead charmed lives… And that their wealth and influence are enough to fix most problems that come their way. Of course the all too frequent news that this or that household name has died of cancer or heart disease reminds us that this is not the case. But we rarely get to hear about the non-life-threatening diseases that plague the glitterati.
Michael Jackson was the first but not the only
For a long time #MichaelJackson was the first – and almost only – famous name that sprang to mind in the context of vitiligo. (And what better example could there be of this skin condition being no respecter of wealth or fame?). Yet I still found myself saying aloud “well, who’d have thought?!” when I read recently that other famous vitiligo sufferers reputedly include Dudley Moore… (Much loved and sadly missed)… Richard Hammond (of Top Gear fame)… And legendary American comedy actor Steve Martin. (Perhaps this explains his trademark combination of dark eyebrows and startlingly white hair?).
Of course, there is absolutely no reason why I should be surprised by these revelations… Except in so much as all these individuals chose a profession that put them firmly in the public eye. And all of them present an un-selfconscious and extrovert image. One that seems foreign to those of us who have lived our lives hiding our white patches from view.
Of course, there are many thousands of celebrities out there in Tinsel-Land. (Many millions, if you include those who are no longer with us.) So – based on the known percentages – a considerable number of them must be vitiligo sufferers. But, like most of us with this condition, they either conceal it or simply don’t consider it to be relevant to their work… Which is fair enough.
A reluctant vitiligo ambassador
No one to date has done more (if accidentally) to raise awareness of vitiligo than the King of Pop. But I have always believed that Michael Jackson’s quirky behaviours were linked to his pigment loss. His obsessive preoccupation with privacy and his progressive shyness were a result of his transition from black to white.
Whatever MJ’s reputation at the end, I can only imagine the psychological impact that his vitiligo must have had on him. Trying to hide his changing appearance must have made his iconic public image increasingly difficult to live up to. The impression I am left with when I look at his interviews and comments on the subject is that of a reluctant vitiligo ambassador. Someone forced into the open by the misguided and hurtful accusations of critics who claimed that he was deliberately bleaching his skin because he was ashamed of his Afro-American heritage.
I certainly do not blame M.J. for his reluctance. Anyone who has suffered from any type of disfigurement will know the sense of indignation (violation even) that you feel when another human being stares at you… Judges you or makes unkind remarks about your appearance.
And, just because a person’s occupation places them in a position of influence does not mean that they are morally obligated to champion the cause for whatever condition they may have. I believe it took great courage for Michael Jackson to confront his vitiligo in public. But my guess is that he only did so because it was the lesser of two evils… The other one being to allow people to believe he had denounced his ethnicity.
Willing celebrity vitiligo advocates
However, there are other public figures who have deliberately (and no less courageously) used their celebrity to raise vitiligo awareness… And in a much more proactive and positive way.
For example, I seem to remember that Mike Grady (“Barry” in Last of the Summer Wine) was happy to talk about his vitiligo some years ago. And he became a patron of the Vitiligo Society in the UK.
TV personality Yvette Fielding (of Most Haunted fame) bravely bared all on Blue Peter when she was a 17 year old presenter on the children’s TV show in order to show audiences what vitiligo looked like. Not only that, but she recently gave an interview in which she talks about how she inherited the condition from her mother and was later also diagnosed with Graves’ disease. (An autoimmune thyroid condition sometimes associated with vitiligo.) She talked about her loss of skin pigment (which was 100% by the age of 21). And she described the challenges that this, and her other symptoms, present in her daily life. Given that her chosen career is one which demands such high standards of personal appearance and stamina in the face of often tiring and stressful schedules, her candour and courage are inspiring.
The American newscaster Lee Thomas is another example of someone in the public eye who was brave enough to show his white patches to the world. He first revealed to TV audiences in 2005 that he had widespread vitiligo. And he went on to tell his story in a memoir entitled Turning White. This led to his becoming a willing advocate for vitiligo patients, starting a support group and becoming a motivational speaker. He now shares his story around the world. Happily, he has enjoyed some significant re-pigmentation. But I know from my own personal experience of recovery that, although this will have been cause for great celebration, it will not have lessened his desire to help others who have not been so fortunate.
Celebrity = influence
In today’s airbrushed, over-produced, celebrity-hyped world of glossy unreality, it is a breath of fresh air whenever a member of that untouchable establishment openly shares their vulnerabilities with the public. Like it or not (and I confess I don’t particularly) celebrity equals influence in this age of instant communication.
I’m not saying that this baring of body and soul should be compulsory. Famous people are entitled to privacy just like the rest of us. But perhaps, if more of the one in every hundred celebrities that have vitiligo were to make the fact known, this not-so-very-rare skin condition might no longer be so misunderstood and under-represented.
