Kaz Crossley, a former Love Island UK star, is part of The Challenge: World Championship, a global competition series on Paramount Plus.
The 29-year-old previously competed in The Challenge: UK and was one of the show’s two winners alongside Tristan Phipps.
Those two UK winners then joined the World Championship spinoff as global MVPs along with two other UK castmates, Nathan Henry and Zara Zoffany.
Each of the global MVPs, except for the medically-disqualified Henry, got to choose a Legends player as their partner, and Kaz opted for three-time Challenge winner Jordan Wiseley.
She made the selection even with her ex-boyfriend, former War of the Worlds finalist Theo Campbell, also available as a pick. Their relationship history has been among the early stories touched upon a bit during episodes of the show.
However, the 29-year-old recently opened up about something not presented on the show – her ongoing struggles with alopecia, a disease where the immune system attacks hair follicles, causing hair loss.
Kaz Crossley posts about her struggles with alopecia
In a recent Instagram post, Kaz mentioned she took several photos of herself before she “had a good cry,” likely due to her ongoing struggle with alopecia.
“Sometimes you will have days where you don’t feel strong, and that’s okay – it’s so important to let it out! I think the mixture of realising I’m losing more hair, mixed with the fact I will be heading back to the uk (real life) hit me hard,” Kaz wrote in her caption.
The Challenge: UK and World Championship competitor shared three photos of herself in a white towel with her hair wet and slicked back, revealing a noticeable patch of missing hair atop her head. The second photo shows the spot close up, while the third photo has Kaz smiling and giving a thumbs up.
“Anyone going through the same right now I reaaaally feel you! The insecurity of people noticing it and the need to hide it, the worry if it’ll get worse and the constant reminder of such a difficult time every time I look in the mirror. Trust me I feel anyone else dealing with this and we will get through it together!” Kaz wrote.
Kaz’s heartfelt post showing support for others with alopecia collected over 42,000 likes and 550 comments from others showing love and support.
Kaz shared message about alopecia affecting her confidence
Earlier this month, Kaz shared a post about her trip to the Dominican Republic for her best friend’s birthday celebration. She mentioned that due to “recent stress,” she was experiencing hair loss.
“It’s got a lot thinner, I also have a small bald patch right at the front of my head. Im trying to cover it by changing my parting or wearing one of my @kazbands (of course) but when I tie my hair up it’s still so noticeable. In all honesty Im pretty sure it’s getting worse. I’m not usually one to care too much about what I look like but its starting to affect my confidence,” Kaz wrote.
She asked commenters to give her any advice on how she could better handle the hair loss, leading to over 1,000 comments pouring in with suggestions or supportive feedback.
Alopecia gained attention last year due to the controversial incident that occurred at the televised Academy Awards ceremony. Presenter Chris Rock made a joke about actress Jada Pinkett-Smith’s bald appearance, which brought a look of disgust from Jada.
It led to Jada’s husband, Will Smith, walking up to the stage and smacking Rock in the face before returning to his seat and yelling at him to leave his wife’s name out of his mouth. The aftermath saw Smith penalized by the Academy, receiving a 10-year ban from their events.
The incident received plenty of attention in the media for weeks and months, with stars from The Challenge commenting about the controversial moment.
Kaz and Jordan among the teams to watch in World Championship
As mentioned, Kaz appears on The Challenge: World Championship after debuting on Love Island UK 4 and winning The Challenge: UK spinoff with Tristan Phipps. Within the World Championship’s second episode, the MVPs got to select their partners for the season.
MVPs drafted their partners in the order of finish in the daily qualifier, with the top players picking first, second-place players picking second, and so on until all MVPs and Legends had partners.
Kaz had the option to draft her ex, but they both realized they might struggle to work well together. Instead, she opted to draft MTV Legend Jordan, who has won The Challenge three times and is coming off another appearance in the show’s final.
Jordan’s appearance in the Ride or Dies final saw him teamed up with veteran cast member Aneesa Ferreira. Unfortunately, Aneesa suffered a nasty ankle injury during their run, which slowed them down considerably in the competition.
They ultimately fell in an elimination held during the final, as opponents Johnny Bananas and Nany Gonzalez defeated them in Balls In.
With Kaz, Jordan is now teamed with a recent Challenge winner, and based on Kaz’s abilities so far, they appear like one of the strong teams to watch.
However, it’s a stacked field of competitors. Other notable teams include Tori Deal with USA’s Danny McCray, Australia’s Grant Crapp with Jonna Mannion, and seven-time winner Bananas with Justine Ndiba. The winning duo will split $500,000 and get to call themselves the first-ever Challenge World Champions.
The Challenge: World Championship episodes arrive Wednesdays on Paramount Plus.