It was the Cool Britannia era, when her naked image was projected on to the Houses of Parliament.

But within a few years Gail Porter's celebrity and success had turned into a nightmare that culminated in a suicide attempt.

In a stark sign of the strain she was under, the former television presenter went bald overnight in 2005.

Sunny: A big smile from a woman who fought depression

She has refused to wear a wig since and now claims she would cut her hair off if it grew back again.

Miss Porter, 37, said there was no 'rhyme or reason' why she was so dramatically affected by alopecia.

'They say it can be stress hormones, all sort of things, but if it was just stress then half the people in London would be bald,' she said.

Serene: Miss Porter insists that she won't wear a wig after going bald in 2005 and, right, the former television presenter practises a glum look

'I don't put it down to being ill, being depressed or anything - I think it's the luck of the draw - I pulled the last straw.'

The hair loss was the latest in a long line of struggles she faced.

During her twenties, Edinburgh-born Miss Porter was seriously anorexic, weighing less than six and a half stone at her lowest point.

Pin up: Gail was a lads' magazine favourite in the 1990s

Her whirlwind three-year marriage to Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave ended in 2005, shortly before she went bald.

During the marriage, she suffered post-natal depression following the birth of their daughter Honey.

That culminated in a suicide attempt in 2005. She mixed pills with iced vodka while Honey, then two, was at nursery school.

She told Observer Woman magazine as she posed for her wackiest pictures ever: 'I didn't want to die, it was just a real cry for help, I felt so alone.'

Cheeky: A 100ft naked image of Gail Porter was projected on to the Houses of Parliament in 1999 as part of a publicity stunt by FHM magazine

As a result of the suicide attempt, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder - which she continues to battle.

She also had a long history of self-harm and confessed to mutilating herself with a miniature saw shortly after the suicide attempt.

However, she says that since losing her hair, she has not fallen back into self-harm and has learned to ask for help when her mood sinks.

Miss Porter lives in North London with her daughter and on-off boyfriend James Lloyd.

She blamed her lack of TV work on her refusal to wear a wig.

'I'm a 37-year-old single mother with no hair, it's not going to happen,' she added.

Miss Porter is pictured with her daughter Honey as part of the NSPCC Big Bike Ride in aid of ChildLine Scotland in June