John Cena “really struggled” with losing his hair.
John Cena and his wife Shay Shariatzadeh
The 49-year-old wrestler-turned-actor underwent a hair transplant in 2024 and he praised his supportive wife Shay Shariatzadeh for helping him be “vulnerable” and encouraging him to embrace a new chapter in his life.
Asked if something changed his mindset about his health, he told Us Weekly magazine: “I really struggled with losing my hair, and to be able to openly talk with my bride about it [did that]. She kind of held my hand. Here’s some big, tough guy who thinks he’s indestructible. … None of us are perfect.
“We’re all flawed. If you can be vulnerable, there’s beauty in that. … This is the new chapter: my hair transplant, me being an advocate for sunscreen because I was an idiot and didn’t put on sunscreen.
“I’ve had to go through some pretty tough phone calls and pretty tough procedures with that.”
John is a “strong advocate” for hair transplants and embraces various other ways to look after his locks.
He said: “I feel great and again, not perfect, but I’m taking steps at a time. My first transplant was a minimal procedure.
“I had a huge spot in the back, and they covered it up, but I didn’t exhaust my donor sites. Now I’m talking inside baseball, but this is all knowledge I got by talking to a professional. Imagine what can happen!
“That’s why I’m such a strong advocate. I see [a doctor] every six weeks. I get PRP treatment. I do red-light therapy, vitamins, finasteride topical, exosome topical — I’m all in.”
The Barbie star revealed last year he had been diagnosed with skin cancer twice and he’s admitted the health scares made him realise he wasn’t “bulletproof”.
He said: “I thought I was young and bulletproof. That’s not true. And man, you hear from your friends or guardians as a young person, ‘Put on sunscreen!’
“You don’t think it’s going to affect you — it’s real and it can affect you.”
John recently discovered he needs glasses.
He said: “I got these nice vintage opera glasses. … I love to read, and I started reading pages of books three times over again.
“I was like, I gotta get help, and when I did, I discovered there wasn’t just one problem.
“I realised that I’m not as young as I used to be, and I had an entirely new disease I knew nothing about.”
