Gail Porter

Gail Porter (born 23 March 1971) is a Scottish television personality, former model and actress. She started her television career in children's TV, before branching out into modelling and presenting mainstream TV. In the 1990s, she famously posed nude for ''FHM'', which was projected on to the Houses of Parliament. Later in her career, Porter has been affected by alopecia, a condition which causes hair loss.

Life and career

Porter attended Portobello High School in Edinburgh. She studied for a BTEC HND in media production at West Herts College. After making an unsuccessful bid to join the presentation team of the BBC children's show ''Blue Peter'', she presented family-friendly television programmes, or ones aimed at children. They include '' Children's BBC Scotland'', ''T.I.G.S'', ''MegaMag'', ''Up For It!'', '' Children in Need'', ''Fully Booked'', '' The Movie Chart Show'', ''Top of the Pops'', and ''Live & Kicking'', work for ''CITV'', and programmes such as ''The Big Breakfast'' and ''Gail Porter's Big 90s'' for VH1.

In the late 1990s she began to pose for magazines such as ''FHM''. A nude photograph of Porter was projected on the Houses of Parliament in 1999 as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign, and accompanied it with a message to vote for her in the ''FHM'' Sexiest Women Poll. In her autobiography, Porter says she did not know about the stunt until it was reported the following day. In an interview with the BBC in 2020, she said that the incident left her so distraught that she was unable to get out of bed for a long time.

In 2001, Porter took part in the reality television show '' Celebrity Blind Man's Bluff'' and on ''Lily Savage's Blankety Blank''. In 2003, she was on Channel 4's '' The Games'', although injury curtailed her participation.

In 2004 to 2006 she presented three series of '' Dead Famous'' and in 2009 presented episodes of ''The Gadget Show'', temporarily replacing Suzi Perry. In 2008 to 2011, Porter was a regular panelist on Channel 5's ''The Wright Stuff''.

In 2010, she was a guest team captain on ''What Do Kids Know?'' with Rufus Hound, Joe Swash and Sara Cox on Watch. In August 2010, she began the Two Way Street campaign for solicitors Russell Jones & Walker, an initiative to develop the relationship between large goods vehicle drivers and cyclists, keeping them safer. In October 2010, Porter hosted a documentary on Current TV, ''Gail Porter on Prostitution'' which investigated prostitution laws.

In 2014, Porter said she would be guest editor of ''Fashion Plus'' magazine.

She appeared at London Fashion Week in September 2014 and wrote of her experiences for the magazine.

On 27 August 2015 she entered the ''Celebrity Big Brother'' house representing the UK. On 15 September, she was the fourth housemate to be evicted after spending 20 days in the house.

In 2017 she became the brand ambassador for the insolvency practitioner Creditfix, meeting with the public and speaking openly about her struggles with debt in several corporate videos.

In 2018, she joined 26 other celebrities at Metropolis Studios and performed an original Christmas song called Rock With Rudolph, a song written and produced by Grahame and Jack Corbyn. The song was recorded in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital and was released digitally through independent record label Saga Entertainment on 30 November 2018 under the artist name The Celebs. The music video debuted exclusively with The Sun on 29 November 2018 and had its first TV showing on Good Morning Britain on 30 November 2018. The song peaked at number two on the iTunes pop chart.

In 2020, Porter narrated the BBC Scotland series ''Inside The Zoo''.

At the start of 2022, Porter was a presenter of ''Spooked Scotland'' (or branded as ''Haunted Scotland'' for the American audience) alongside Chris Fleming.

Alopecia

In 2005 Porter developed alopecia totalis, losing her hair. She decided not to wear a hat or wig in order to raise awareness of the condition. She became ambassador for the Little Princess Trust, a charity which provides wigs to children with hair loss. On ''Richard & Judy'' on 15 February 2006 she showed her hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were beginning to grow back. On 12 April 2006 she said "It is possible that I'm going to get my hair back." By May 2010 hair had grown on three-quarters of her scalp. By the end of the year, her hair had started falling out again.

Porter's alopecia totalis was the subject of the BBC
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