Reality TV star Jake Quickenden has told of his years-long battle with insecurity about his hair loss, while joking that he goes topless to distract from his receding hairline.

The former X Factor contestant and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star recently underwent a hair transplant, and he said he hopes the procedure will help to boost his confidence.

Quickenden, 28, also said that he constantly wore a bandana to disguise his hairline while in the I’m A Celebrity jungle back in 2014.

Jake Quickenden
Jake Quickenden and girlfriend Danielle Fogarty (ITV/Loose Women grab)

The TV personality and singer told ITV’s Loose Women that he had been “paranoid” for five years about his hair, and that while his father “looked great” bald, it was not something he would do himself.

He said: “I’ve done something for myself to sort my insecurity out.

“Honestly it’s been with me for about five years. My dad was bald, but he looked great bald, and I shaved my head for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

“I remember looking in the mirror thinking ‘wow, you need hair, you are ugly’. So I thought, if my hair ever goes, I’m struggling.”

Quickenden said: “For five years I was counting hairs on my pillows thinking, has it fallen out? I was just really paranoid about it.”

So that's how he keeps his torso so toned! Get a sweat on with Jake Quickenden #imaceleb

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He said he would often use a spray to hide his receding hairline and, asked how he dealt with it while in I’m A Celebrity, he revealed that he hid it.

“If you notice, I did not take my bandana off once,” he said.

“Apart from my shower, I didn’t take it off.”

Loose Women panellist Kaye Adams joked that she was not looking at his hair, as a picture of Quickenden flashed up on the screen from the jungle, showing him topless with the bandana on his head.

So just incase anyone sees me and thinks it's Frankenstein, I've sorted my hairline out after years of insecurities, people might say your hair was fine and didn't need it, but after years of being really worried about losing my hair, I took the dive and did something about it! I did my research and found @kslhairltd they were great, professional and reallt put me at ease and I am delighted with how it has turned out! Swelling and redness will go down after a week and then just get on with day to day life and wait for the results!! My old man was bald and it suited him, I shaved my head and I looked like a peanut M&M, so unfortunately I don't suit a skin head…. anyone got any questions just drop me an inbox…. I will take any stick anyone wants to give me aswell, because honesty I'm buzzing and couldn't care less about negative comments 😂!! Peace ✌🏽

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Quickenden quipped: “That’s why I’ve always got my top off, so nobody looks at my hair.”

He appeared on the daytime programme along with his girlfriend Danielle Fogarty, the daughter of his I’m A Celebrity co-star Carl Fogarty, and he said he had the hair transplant to help boost his confidence for their future wedding.

Although the pair are not engaged, he said he “obviously” wants to marry her and that it will happen.

“I didn’t want to walk down the aisle and feel less confident,” he said.

“I wanted to be my confident, bubbly self. It’s one of the main reasons, so I could feel as confident as Danielle.”