The world needs more famous grey women, comedian Des Bishop has said. 

In the world of international politics, President of the ECB Christine Lagarde and former British Prime Minister Theresa May are all notable examples of women who have embraced the grey. 

However, there is still a dearth of female celebrities and Des hopes there will one day be more. 

“There is this sense, that when a woman lets themselves go grey, they’ve let themselves go - you know?” he said while presenting The Hard Shoulder. 

“The only grey haired icon that I can think of immediately off the top of my head is Krystle Carrington from Dynasty back in the 80s. 

“There’s not enough grey icons for women!”

Although Des now proudly describes himself as a ‘silver fox’, a few years ago he dyed his hair to keep it from going grey. 

“When I was in China filming a series for RTÉ, I was dying my hair at the time and I got stuck having to continue to dye it for continuity purposes,” he said. 

“I couldn’t find Just For Men, so I used to have to get my mother to ship me Just For Men to China - you know, like a drug dealer. 

“It’s like, ‘Yo, I need my stuff!’

“It’s stressful if you think you’re not going to get the right colour.” 

Des Bishop

Irish News columnist Lynette Fay sympathises and has recently given up dying her hair as well. 

“It was getting to the point where I was having to dye my hair every two or three weeks because I could see the little specks of grey coming through,” she said. 

“They were annoying me and just really getting to me. 

“I remember there was one night I was just standing and looking in the bathroom mirror, trying to colour my hair thinking, ‘What am I doing?’” 

Scientists in the United States have recently concluded that the most likely reason hair goes grey is because pigment cells lose the ability to mature.

Main image: Des Bishop.