Louis Walsh admits to hair transplant

It used to be Simon Cowell or Dannii Minogue's faces that got the most attention in terms of cosmetic work on The X Factor judging panel, but it their absence this year Louis Walsh has had to step manfully into the breach.

And the twinkly Irishman has not disappointed - admitting that the lustrous grey thatch we admire every week on the gogglebox is partly the result of a hair transplant.

Louis, 59, insists that it was Simon Cowell who prompted him to get his barnet boosted, despite his initial reservations.

He said: "I could have just left it and got on with things, but with TV today, everything is in high definition, and people notice every little thing.

"And if you're getting on, and you're on TV with a lot of young people, you have to look after yourself. So I thought 'I don't want a bald spot! I'm going to get this sorted."

The procedure would have cost up to £30k normally, but Louis got the work done for free in exchange for plugging the Dublin clinic that did the thatching.

If you want the gory details, the process is called Ultra Refined Follicular Unit Transplantation (URFUT) and sees strips of skin taken from the back of the head and grafted into places where hair has stopped growing.

And we have to admit, the results are pretty impressive.