Alopecia sufferer Ben Long pops the question on This Time Next Year

Ben Long and Justine Black appeared on ITV’s This Time Next Year.

The show follows people who have made a pledge to complete a task or transformation within 12 months and then invites them back on to review their year.

Alopecia sufferer Ben had spent a year pretending to girlfriend of five years Justine he was simply training for the London Marathon... when in fact he was bidding to boost his confidence in order to propose to her.

In discussion - Ben chats with Davina last year. Picture: ITV

The RNLI fundraising manager, who lives outside Stoke-by-Nayland, told host Davina McCall how the condition had affected his life.

He said: “I had been waking up in the morning and there was hair on my pillow. I was really fearful. It was the fear of the unknown.”

After the diagnosis, Ben went from ten stone to 14 stone.

He added: “It has affected every part of my life.

The way they were - the audience sees a picture of Ben and Justine before his condiition. Picture: ITV

“Proposing is going to be the drive and determination for me. It hasn’t changed the way she feels about me but I know I am not the person she fell in love with.

“She knows I’m here but she thinks I am pledging to run the London Marathon.”

Viewers were then transported a year forward and watched on as the tuxedo-clad 32-year-old came out on stage.

During the year, he had kept a regular video diary, which detailed two procedures in London’s Harley Street.

New man - Ben on the show, which aired on Tuesday 

One saw him having his eyebrows microbladed - permanently applied - and the other, a micropigmentation of his hair, which gives the appearance of a permanently shaved head.

Businesswoman Justine, 39, was then invited on stage by Davina, where the proposal took place.

Speaking to Gazette after the show aired, Ben said: “We haven’t set a date or decided upon a venue at all. We’re still on Cloud Nine.

“Before the alopecia, I had quick thick hair and losing it had a huge affect on my confidence.

“I had thought about proposing but I just couldn’t do it. I didn’t feel like the person Justine fell in love with.

The Big Question - Ben on one knee. Picture: ITV

“So that year gave me the chance and the drive to build that back up again.”

He added: “It was actually quite tricky to get Justine down for the filming.

“It was shot during the snow and she was saying: ‘They don’t need me down there, it’s only you showing how far you’ve come.’

“So I had to convince her she needed to be there!”

Ben will also genuinely take on the London Marathon for the The Royal Marsden Cancer Charity this weekend.

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