The Reality Rundown got the opportunity to talk with recording artist William Jones, star of TLC’s new medical series Bad Hair Day! According to TLC, the show is about “Patients with extreme hair-related medical issues seek out Dr. Angie Phipps, Dr. Meena Singh, and Dr. Isha Lopez for life-changing procedures and treatments. From hair restoration to hair removal and every extreme in between, these doctors do it all!” William’s story has over 3 million views on TikTok, and his episode is the 2nd most viewed premiere in TLC history. 

When I asked William, how he’s been since the premiere of the show he responded, “It’s been like a roller coaster ride, a great journey and an emotional journey at that.” He credits the shows ratings to fans of TLC wanting to connect to a story that’s genuine and that’s exactly what his story provides. He knows that him being the first male to present their hair story in this way also stood out to fans. He goes on to further say, “I really think that hair technology for women at least has surpassed light years since I was born in 1996. When I was growing up it was the “quick weaves” but now women have hair that look like its growing out of their scalp. For me, having gone through being burned, tumors, cancer, and everything else I just always felt like life never gave me what I needed.” 

 

 

William admits that he was very adamant about not wanting to do the story because being a recording artist working in the industry, he’d created a façade of how he wanted to look but this show was going to strip him of that mask. He says, “People were hesitant to connect with because they thought I was just a singer that had parties with strippers around and I wanted people to know that I did have a story to tell. I realized people are going to talk about you regardless and I decided to take control of my narrative. I asked William to walk me through when he was a child and had gotten burned. William recalls that some of his memory being muddled. He does recall when he was younger that his parents struggled with substance abuse. He believes that around the age of one he was moving around in his baby walker in the kitchen when he attempted to grab what he did not know was a hot skillet frying food. When he hit the handle, the skillet of grease fell on him which caused him to have reconstructive surgery on his face, back and shoulders.

On the show, there is a moment when William removes his hair unit to reveal his scars that were concealed, and he’s told to look at himself in the mirror. As a viewer, it is clear to see that this troubled him, and I wanted to get more insight on what was going through his mind at the time. William says, “That was the hardest because I felt ambushed. I didn’t know they were going to have me look in the mirror. One thing that a lot of people don’t know is that I didn’t like looking in mirrors prior to this. In my house, I would cover the mirrors with pictures or song lyrics. I hated mirrors and it felt like I was confronting a bully for the first time but he’s glad it happened now because he battled his demons.” 

William says he wish the show would’ve highlighted his music because it’s a big part of his story in terms of how it helped his depression. He references a relative (Jordan) that was recently murdered as being his close confidant and how he was glad that Jordan got to see him with hair on the show before his untimely passing. He shared that Jordan was a crucial part of his support and helping him understand how to be confident. So, he’s happy that Jordan got to see this very pivotal moment happen before he passed. William goes on further to say that he knows he has a big personality and sometimes it can get in scuffles, but he’s prepared to pull his hair off and make it do what it does. William says, “I know on the show I had a few outbursts because of my big personality. I know sometimes you don’t know what to expect from me. So, I know there were a lot of things that TLC probably couldn’t sign off on such as my use of the n-word.”

William says that he had several zoom calls with TLC before joining the show because they needed a lot of details. This made him even more skeptical because he knows there are a lot of mean-spirited people on social media, and he didn’t want to become the “butt of everyone’s joke” but in hindsight it would probably go viral and help get his face out their which in turn would help push his music. William credits his song “Scars” to being his way of expressing what he’s gone through since he had already opened up about it on the show. It was important for him to tell his story how he wanted it expressed. He admits, “When I went in to record this song, I was so emotional that I couldn’t get through the lyrics without breaking down. I had to come back another day when I was able to harness that energy and kill it.” He says he’s proud of how great the record is and how people can relate to the songs because it’s a song about people having scars whether physical, emotional, or mental. 

As we wrapped up the interview, I informed Will that I saw on his social media he hinted at new projects on the horizon, and I noticed “#Zeus” hashtags as well. I wanted to know what was next on his prosperous journey. William said that he has a few projects coming up that he’ll be flying out for. William further says, “Zeus needs to cast me for real. After the “Bad Boys Show” aired, people kept telling me that my crazy butt needed to be on there.” I definitely cosigned! He says part of him wanted to do it because his personality is crazy and unexpected, but he knows that sometimes he has a quick temper even though he loves to be the life of the party.

Be sure to watch the full interview to get exclusive details on William’s story at therealityrundown.com!