Nadia Sawalha breaks down in tears as she reveals bald patches in emotional video

Nadia Sawalha has revealed her significant hair loss after being diagnosed with 'the balding gene'.

The mum-of-two shared the full extent of her condition in an intimate video posted on the Nadia and Kaye Facebook page, which she runs with fellow Loose Women panellist Kaye Adams.

'I've got a confession to make about my hair... one that is actually a lot tougher for me to talk about than even I'd imagined,' she writes as an introduction to the clip.

She begins by explaining that the thing people ask her about most often is her 'gorgeous glorious wonderful amazing natural curls', but then admits: 'I'm going to be honest with you. They're fake'.

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Nadia says that her hair used to be her crowning glory, and her favourite thing about herself, but then becomes visibly emotional as she tells viewers: 'my hair is not like that anymore.'

'My hair really started to change after I had my kids. I lost a lot, like a lot of new mums do but it started to change a lot, the texture... having gone from naturally curly hair, my hair just started to go frizzy.'

'It wasn't really bad, but when I started to go into perimenopause, then I seemed to lose... well I think I've lost maybe a third of my hair.'

Pointing to an area near the front of her scalp, she adds: 'You see here, this is where it's balding. I'm losing it all over.'

'I feel bad even saying this when you think of people that have lost their hair completely through alopecia or cancer treatment, but it doesn't really make it any easier.'

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It's not the first time that Nadia has opened up about her hair loss - in September 2016, she revealed during an episode of Loose Women that she'd visited a trichologist who had told her she had the 'balding gene', and says in the video that she's since been contacted by many women who are going through the same experience.

'Sometimes I think that I shouldn't be so ungrateful and get so upset. My hair can still look really good with all the stuff on Loose Women, they're brilliant, they do all sorts of stuff to my hair,' she concludes.

'It sounds pathetic even as I'm saying it, but it does make me really sad. It just makes me feel old, and I can't help that it does. I should just feel grateful that I've got any hair and I should feel grateful that it could be so much worse, and I do try to.'

'I am grateful for what I still have, but it doesn't mean I don't miss my hair terribly.'

Fans have rushed to praise the TV star for her honesty, with one commenting: 'Bless you Nadia. So many women have to face this and you do not realise how much you have helped others by being so honest and showing your feelings about this.'

'Bless you sweetheart for sharing. We all look on the positive side but it's ok to also feel how you do and to allow yourself to grieve for what you once had,' another agreed. 'Don't ever stop being yourself and thank you for taking us on your journey with you. I think you are amazing.'