Gail Porter

She’s been famous, she’s been homeless, she’s been sectioned with two men who both claimed to be Jesus. Life has certainly been interesting for Gail Porter.

For the best part of a decade, Gail was one of the most familiar faces on British television, presenting legendary shows like Top of the Pops (1999-2003) and The Big Breakfast (2000).

In the 1990s, she famously posed nude for FHM, a photo which was then projected onto the Houses of Parliament – something she knew nothing about until it happened.

She is now a passionate charity supporter, and often talks openly and honestly about her mental health issues and her diagnosis of alopecia.

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Type Of Speaker

Burnout Celebrity Host Entertainment Female Speakers Health & Wellbeing Hidden Disabilities Media Mental Health Presenters Resilience Speaker

More About Gail Porter

Gail Porter | Model

Gail Porter was a very popular model in the 1990s, her most famous piece being when she posed nude for FHM magazine. Unfortunately, what Gail didn’t know is that the magazine were planning to use the image as a publicity stunt to promote their 100 Sexiest Women poll. The image was projected onto the Houses of Parliament, something Gail only knew about when it was reported on television. The incident left her so distraught that, in 2020, she explained it had affected her mental health so badly that she was “unable to get out of bed for a long time”.

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Gail Porter | Television

Gail’s first step into the showbiz world came as a runner, as well as a range of low-paid jobs in order to learn the craft of television. She auditioned for a children’s show in Scotland, got the job, and swiftly made a name for herself in children’s television, presenting shows such as Fully Booked (1997-98), It’s a Mystery (1997-99), and Live & Kicking (1997-99).

She branched out of children’s television, and hosted the paranormal series Dead Famous (2004-06); it was whilst filming this that she began to suffer from alopecia totalis, causing her hair to fall out. In 2010, she hosted a documentary titled Gail Porter on Prostitution, which investigated prostitution laws. She also presented Dead Famous (2004-06), The Gadget Show (2009), and Spooked Scotland (2022).

As well as presenting, Gail has featured in panel shows, reality shows, and game shows, including Celebrity Blind Man’s Bluff (2001), Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank (2001), The Games (2003), The Wright Stuff (2008-11), What Do Kids Know (2010), and Celebrity Big Brother (2015).

Gail’s experience with alopecia was the subject of the BBC 1 documentary, Gail Porter Laid Bare (2006). In 2024, she was the topic of the documentary, Being Gail Porter, where she talks about her past, from her upbringing to her family and friends, medical professionals and life in the media, as well as her experiences with self-harm, anorexia, alopecia, and depression.

A regular attendee since she was a child, Hung Drawn & Portered was her debut show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2023.

In 2007, she published her autobiography, Laid Bare: My Story of Love, Fame, and Survival.

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Gail Porter | Other Work

Gail Porter’s experience with alopecia has been well documented, but it may still shock you to know that it was during filming of Dead Famous where her hair started to fall off. The stress of it broke up her marriage, and brought underlying mental health issues to the surface, leading her to be detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and borderline personality disorder.

Since then, she has been a vocal mental health advocate and charity supporter for organisations and campaigns including:

– Ambassador for insolvency practitioner Creditfix, speaking about her struggles with debt

– Ambassador for the Little Princess Trust, a charity providing wigs to children with hair loss

– Vice President of The Children’s Trust, a charity for children with brain injuries. She also completed a triathlon for the charity

– Ambassador for Together Co. a loneliness charity in Brighton and Hove, for whom she abseiled

– Fair Credit Charity ‘Fair For You’ Campaign: launched to help six million Brits who are living in furniture and/or appliance poverty.

– Mary’s Living and Giving Shop: a charity shop Gail has volunteered in which was vandalised

– ambassador for The Samaritans: she first got involved with the charity for her own mental health issues. She also contributed to their book How to Listen in 2021

– Single Homeless ‘Home For Good’: project calling to the UK government to increase local housing allowance and raise the benefit cap

– Ambassador for The Royal Foundation’s UK-Wide programme to end homelessness, Homewards

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Gail Porter | Corporate Work

Gail Porter is now frequently hired as a mental health speaker, sharing her personal experiences with public and corporate audiences alike. She is a committed advocate who is dedicated to making changes in the world of mental health and wellbeing support. With her own experiences of homelessness, divorce, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and anorexia, Gail knows many of life’s challenges, and uses these experiences to inform her speeches on improving workplace wellbeing, creating kind cultures, and building resilience.