CBS Philadelphia news anchor Aziza Shuler kept her battle with alopecia a secret for most of her life.
The Emmy-winning journalist recently discussed her journey with the autoimmune disease during an interview with Inside Edition. According to Shuler, she has been dealing with hair loss since she was 12 years old. “I still get emotional talking about it,” Shuler said.
The Philly anchor, born while her mother was incarcerated, was placed into foster care with her six siblings. Her journey as a foster child came with experiences of being physically and sexually abused.
“I woke up one day with a bald spot about the size of a lemon slice, and within a year, all of my hair had fallen out,” she shared. Shuler said it was embarrassing to lose her hair in middle school.
“I felt ashamed, and frankly, I felt ugly.”
The anchor’s CBS colleagues have welcomed Shuler’s recent transformation to remove her wig styles and embrace her natural bald look. “How I look is an important part of my job,” the weekend anchor said in a video on her Instagram. In the CBS Philadelphia segment dedicated to her story, she added that the makeup and wardrobe under the studio lights is “an effort to look perfect” when she appears on viewers’ TV screens to deliver the news.
“I’ve given myself permission to REINVENT myself,” she wrote in the caption.
A post shared by Aziza Shuler (@azizashuler)
Last month, as the St. John’s University alum celebrated her 30th birthday and Alopecia Awareness Month, she announced her plans to debut her new look on-air.
“For my 30th, I chose to be Free!” she wrote on Instagram, flaunting her new look. “This month, and really for the past few months, I decided to free myself — fully. I’m not on air like this just yet, but I do walk in real life with my naked head and free spirit.”
A post shared by Aziza Shuler (@azizashuler)
Inside Edition reported that viewers have also been supportive of her natural beauty.
“When I think about how far I have come, it makes me emotional because I never thought that I would get to this point. I believed I would wear a wig my whole life. I believed I would hide my whole life,” Shuler said.
The bald beauty added that she is proud of her breakout moment.
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