Dr Matee: The famous hair transplant surgeon helping heroes and stars across Manchester and beyond
Dr Matee is the go-to guy for hair, eyebrow and beard transplants in 2021 - having treated the likes of Jack Fincham, Jake Quickenden, Gareth Gates, Katie Price, Joe Swash, Mike Hassini, James Lock, Gaz Beadle, Grant Hall, Stuart Hogg, Rob Wotton and Bianca Gascoigne, among others.
The number of famous faces who’ve signed up for hair transplants has risen considerably over the years. But there’s still one celeb who remains synonymous with the surgery.
It’s Wayne Rooney, of course – the former England footballer who bucked the trend of keeping hairline surgery secret by tweeting ‘before and after’ photos out to the world.
It was a bit of a watershed moment. Since the day Rooney openly admitted to getting treatment for male pattern baldness, some of the stigma surrounding hair loss began to fall away.
In the decade since that Tweet, hair surgery has acquired more celebrity sign-ups and moved into the mainstream – with more people than ever wanting more info about an industry that’s growing every day.
This past decade has also produced hair transplant experts and pioneers leading from the front, and one of the most famous examples of all is Dr Matee – a specialist who’s treated everyone from celebs to servicepeople.
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Having performed his first hair follicle work at Harley Street, Dr Matee proceeded to branch out.
Today, he is the go-to guy for hair, eyebrow and beard transplants – having treated the likes of Jack Fincham, Jake Quickenden, Gareth Gates, Katie Price, Joe Swash, Mike Hassini, James Lock, Gaz Beadle, Grant Hall, Stuart Hogg, Rob Wotton and Bianca Gascoigne, among others.
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But alongside sports, TV and music personalities, Dr Matee has also used his abilities to help those outside the public eye.
His ‘Hair for Heroes’ has been set up to treat those ‘who deserve and need it most’. This can include people with skin deformities, attack victims, and people who dedicate their time to supporting others (charity workers, NHS staff, servicepeople, social workers).
Hair for Heroes recipients can be nominated by anyone – with a panel regularly meeting to decide on each individual nomination.
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Dr Matee also differs from other surgeons in raising the issue of the “major mental health element involved in hair transplants that often doesn’t get discussed”. Part of his mission is to provide services that increase confidence in clients – with hair loss linked to anxiety and depression in some people.
Once upon a time, hair transplants were taboo. But during his time in the industry, Dr Matee says he’s seen the stigma slowly subside.
“Of course, not everyone wants to tell the world about it, but it is so common now,” he explains.
“Both men and women have it done. It has really helped men and women suffering confidence issues to really improve how they feel about themselves. The more people that talk about it, the more people will get help as it really is life changing in how people seem more confident after hair transplant surgery.
“We’ve had countless patients tell us the surgery has completely changed their lives. For people who don’t experience hair loss, they might not understand as much, but when it’s happening to you it can take a massive toll on your self-esteem and mental health.”
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Hair transplants by Dr Matee involve removing hair follicles from the back of the head, known as the donor area, to the front hairline or the top mid-scalp or crown. It is done under local anaesthetic and is a day procedure – classed as ‘minor surgery’.
Patients usually come in on the morning of the surgery and are back at home by the evening.
Dr Matee sees a diverse range of people each week – some popping in for their first treatment, others visiting for corrective surgery to fix botches following poor surgeries performed elsewhere.
The surgeon has even had his own transplant – fixing the corners of his hairline which had also thinned from the front.
But – busyness and big names aside – Dr Matee has also made headlines for his unique approach to surgery: The MinSim technique.
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“MinSim is my very own refined technique of doing hair transplant surgery,” he explains.
“It is something I have developed over the years that allows patients to undergo hair transplant surgery with minimum discomfort, easy recovery and optimum results.
“The MinSim technique, I feel, has revolutionised the patient experience and guarantees that the work we do as a team produces amazing results day in, day out for every single one of our patients.”
Robbie Williams is releasing a big budget biopic later this year – only it stars him as a monkey?…
Danny Jones
Robbie Williams has always been a true popstar but he’s never exactly played it paint by numbers, which is why learning that his upcoming biopic features him as a CGI monkey sounds much less random than it would be coming from anyone else.
There have been countless big-budget movies about rockstars and famous musicians even in just the past few years – One Love about Bob Marley, Back to Black about Amy Winehouse, Elvis and even the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic – but there is a single one we could name where the star is a monkey.
Announced this week, BETTER MAN will tell the story of Robbie Williams’ life and career right up until the present day and is set to be released this festive period.
The first trailer has now dropped too and whatever you make of the concept, visually at least, looks pretty good – only time will tell whether it’s a good film or not.
First trailer for the Robbie Williams biopic ‘BETTER MAN’, starring a CGI monkey as Robbie Williams.
The tagline for the film is, “Discover an extraordinary journey that can’t be told in an ordinary way” and as Williams addresses in the short teaser, starting by simply saying, “I know what you’re thinking? What’s with the monkey?”, they’ve certainly found a way to tell this story diferently.
In fact, although telling his story through the medium of a monkey wasn’t his idea to begin with and, as he and director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) told the likes of Heart Radio, there’s a few reasons for it.
First off, Robbie said of the film and its vision: “I want everything that I do from here on in to be slightly unusual, so that fits that narrative.”
“As humans, we care more for animals than we do for humans. So the audience is probably going to have more empathy for me as a monkey than they would’ve done for me as me.” That’s a fair point: a cute CGI monkey can definitely be rooted for, but it’s Gracey’s explanation that makes it sound most interesting.
As he puts it, the idea to make a furry version of the 50-year-old came from looking to reflect the hitmaker being “pushed on stage” like a “performing monkey” throughout his life, even when heavily under the influence of durgs and alcohol. But it goes much deeper than that.
“This is how he sees himself.” Director Michael Gracey explains why Robbie Williams is a monkey in #BetterManMovie – In select US theatres December 25. Everywhere in the US January 17. pic.twitter.com/GBSyFNfRe5
The Australian director, who also headed up fellow pop music icon P!nk’s autobiographical documentary, goes on to explain: “He was always putting on a performance at [his hometown] Stoke for the other kids, at home for his parents.
“It made it so powerful for me because I was like, You’re going to fall in love with this character, this little monkey. And you’re going to invest emotionally in this little monkey. As long as you set that contract at the start of the film, you’re in, and you will go with that monkey through the entire journey.”
Robbie will be played and largely voiced by Chesterfield-born actor Jonno Davies via motion capture technology, not unlike that used for the Planet of the Apes films, with the story spanning his fractious childhood to boy band success with Take That and then solo superstardom.
Still one of the best-selling and most well-known pop stars to ever do it, he will naturally take full control of the singing sections in the film as well as provide narration.
As he put its himself in the voiceover we’ve now heard, “I’m one of the biggest pop stars in the world but I’ve always seen myself a little less… evolved”. The stylistic choice has certainly split opinion already, with some calling it a “fantastic” approach from a “working class lad” who made it. Others have only found the immediate humour in it thus far.
idea for a film… the life of Robbie Williams told through the perspective of a CGI monkey pic.twitter.com/UhVtr4O8cX
Set to release on Boxing Day 2024, the blockbuster project from Paramount Pictures also features Steve Pemberton, Damon Herriman’ Raechelle Banno, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvaney; Frazer Hadfield, Tom Budge and Anthony Hayes.
With a budget of a reported $110 million, the movie has actually already been debuted at the Toronto Film Festival and was met with pretty positive reviews, with The Guardian giving it four stars and labelling it a “surprisingly entertaining saga.”
As for us, we will say that we’d probably have watched a Robbie Williams biopic anyway, but let’s just say it being told through the lens of a monkey has very much piqued our interest.
There’s also another feature-length project still being made right here in Manchester that we’re very much keeping our eye on.
Featured Images — Paramount Pictures/Drew de F Fawkes (via Flickr)
TV & Showbiz
MTV is hosting a week-long venue takeover with some exciting artists to celebrate the EMAs coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
In case you haven’t heard, the MTV EMAs (European Music Awards) is coming to Manchester later this year, and to mark the massive occasion, they’re hosting a huge week-long takeover at some of the city’s best venues.
This may be a first for Manchester but this isn’t the only time the award ceremony has come to the UK, with London, Liverpool, Glasgow and Belfast all having hosted it before, and with the world-leading Co-op Live now attracting endless global artists, the state-of-the-art venue was a no-brainer.
However, they’re no muppets, these MTV lot: they know that Manchester has one of if not the best music scenes on the planet and has some of the most influential venues to back it up, so they’ve decided to partner with several of them for a celebratory gig takeover.
Running from 5-9 November (Tuesday to Saturday), MTV Music Week will host a series of live music nights at some of the city’s best concert spots and nightlife destinations.
Showcasing both rising and well-established artists from Manchester and beyond, MTV‘s annual Music Week for the 2024 EMAs isn’t just sponsoring a few extra shows ahead of the awards do, they’ll also bespotlighting homegrown artists, hosting unforgettable performances as well as industry workshops.
With the likes of Rebellion, Band on the Wall and Soup Kitchen, as well as Depot Mayfield and Aviva Studios – home to The Warehouse Project and Factory International, respectively – all taking part, this is effectively a week-long tour of some Manc’s most magical music venues.
Acts that we’re excited to see include homegrown indie and alternative lads, Larkins; fast-rising electronic cult favourite, salute, as well as drum and bass duo Piri and Tommy, just to name a few.
Better still, with sub-brands like MTV Push Live, Club MTV and YO! MTV Raps hosting several of these stages, you can rest assured that there’s plenty of variety when it comes to genres.
Alongside MTV Music Week and the 2024 MTV EMAs, Paramount’s Creators House is also heading to Manchester that same week.
As part of their ‘Content for Change’ event series, this company-wide, social impact-led initiative will take place across between 7-9 November, with a packed slate of programming and networking opportunities aimed at Manchester’s creative community.
Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, said of the event series: “Our music scene in Manchester is the stuff of legend and we’re known the world over for our brilliant musicians and iconic venues.
“Music Week will be a great showcase for our city and the stage is set for an incredible Manchester music takeover. A boost for the industry, our economy, and fantastic opportunities for some of our best homegrown artists as well as unforgettable performances for audiences to enjoy.”
The EMAs land on 10 November but before then, you can grab tickets for any of the 10 exciting events happening over MTV Music Week Manchester 2024 HERE. Catch you there!