When 24-year-old Minneapolitan Jeana Turner auditioned to be on the 24th cycle of America’s Next Top Model, she thought she was competing on a level playing field. But then came the makeover episode where producers told her she’d have to remove her wig, something which shook her to the core. Jeana suffers from alopecia, which means since the age of 12 years old she’s had no hair on her head, something that she has tried to conceal for most of her life through an assortment of wigs. Naturally there were tears, but what transpired next was something really quite powerful. After coming to terms with her physical transformation, Jeana had a moment of self-acceptance and empowerment. “It’s freeing,” she said of the experience. “I feel like the whole world can see me now, like I can see myself now.” In the end, Jeana came second place, but she’s very much a winner in our eyes, and to the many hundreds of thousands of followers who look up to her. Here she shares her story.
“I learned at a very young age that life was wasn’t going to be easy, and that I’d better be prepared to battle at all times. I have a condition called alopecia, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. I was bald by the age of 12. Because of this, I was seen as abnormal, treated badly because of my external appearance, so I grew up insecure — a feeling that followed me into adulthood.
I felt like the ugliest thing on the planet when I was a kid. I was shy. I was meek. I was timid. I was a wallflower. I was pushed and shoved in so many directions, and I didn’t snap out of it until I was 12. After heavily bullying for being the weird-looking girl with no hair who wears wigs, I got sick of it. There’s that point in everyone’s life where you realise that others will take you down if you let them. So I became who I wanted to be (at the time) and that has changed throughout my life and will continue to change.
I’ve always been into make-up, I first started wearing it when I was 12. I got into the dance team at school and pushed even harder to be a girly girl considering my hair condition. I would wear a full on smokey eye and lots of foundation. I had clear skin but something about the fact that I had foundation on made me feel special. I could feel the difference, so I knew others could see it.
My first modelling job was actually a national campaign for Hair Club for Kids, they gave me my first hair replacement once I lost everything, and they made me the face of their company. I was honoured, but devastated once a “before and after” photo was released on Google. No one had ever taken a bald photo of me before this was taken, so you could only imagine the response I got at school once my peers found out. I was horrified.
Being a model to me is a dream.You get to be a different person every single day, especially in my case with the use of wigs. Hair has this magical power to make you feel different emotions.
Competing on America’s Next Top Model and baring myself on national TV was a huge step for me. It was very healing and raised so much awareness for alopecia and the struggles that come along with it. I am grateful for the experience and connections that doing ANTM has given me. I truly may never have embraced my bald head for what it is if not for the show.
That said, it caused a lot of pain that America didn’t see and could never imagine. It’s something you’d have to experience to even begin to understand. But the treatment you receive when things aren’t glitz and glamour and the cameras aren’t rolling, is very different.
When it came to getting our show makeovers, I was originally told me I was getting a pixie cut (which they made for me) but ultimately their plan was to razor my entire head. So I went into the salon with a different idea then what I ended up leaving with. I wasn’t upset, I knew I could do it. I was upset that they had lied in order to make that happen when it was something so close to my heart. I don’t think I should have been manipulated to give them the outcome of having an alopecian on the show who accepts their “defect”. It’s a beautiful story, don’t get me wrong, but the process to getting there could have been achieved in a less malicious way.
My biggest fear was being made into comic relief for others, because that’s what it felt like to me my entire life. In the moment while it’s being recorded, you know it’s only gone so far, so the pill isn’t so hard to swallow. But nine months down the line when promos are coming out and you know that moment is going to air nationally, anxiety kicks in. I was nervous. Alopecia is something I’ve dealt with for 14 years of my life and I have never publicly made a statement about it.
I’m grateful for positive support I’ve received. I never imagined being a beacon of hope for so many others, it’s given me an entirely new purpose to why I do what I do. I don’t think I’ve changed since the show. I’m still the same girl. I’m a better model, I’ll admit, but I think that comes from evolving as the industry evolves.
Beauty to me is pleasure and euphoria. I think many see it as a materialistic thing, like it has a monetary value or something. Beauty comes in so many different forms and varies for each individual. That’s what’s so special about it. There isn’t a standard. Beauty is a personal battle and beauty is happiness. It’s all in your hands. Never leave the power of approval in someone else’s hands. Build your own destiny. Now that is beautiful!”
America’s Next Top Model was contacted for comment but are yet to respond.
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