John Cena says hair transplant 'changed the course of his life' but has one regret about the procedure

Professional wrestler-turned-actor John Cena, who underwent hair transplant surgery in November 2024, in an interview for People's cover story, opened up about a sensitive subject, which is hair loss. The 48-year-old Cena, who recently starred alongside Idris Elba and Priyanka Chopra in Ilya Naishuller's action comedy film, Head of State, which was released on July 2, 2025, confessed during the interview that he began paying attention and started to take care of his hair health primarily because of his WWE fans.

According to People, John Cena, who is about to retire from wrestling by the end of 2025, is still fighting and getting in the WWE ring. Besides that, the Suicide Squad star, who plays the lead in the HBO original series Peacemaker, can be seen returning to his lead role in the second installment, which is scheduled to be released on August 21, 2025. However, during his interview with People, while talking about how his WWE fans motivated and encouraged him to take his hair health seriously, John Cena said:

"They've held me accountable. They don’t let you get away with phoning it in, because they’ll eat you alive. That's what a good support system does."

He went ahead and said:

"As I was trying to hide my hair loss, the audience was bringing it to light. I saw their signs that said ‘The bald John Cena.' They pushed me into going to see what my options were and actually do some homework to learn about scalp health, hair health, follicle health. I now have a routine: red-light therapy, minoxidil, vitamins, shampoo, conditioner and I also got a hair transplant."

The Marine star, John Cena, also took the opportunity to explain that there was nothing his fans did that could be considered bullying. He explained:

"Just like a good friend, when you have something in your teeth, they pull you aside and are like, 'You have something in your teeth.'"

While he confessed that he adores and appreciates his new look, John Cena also has a regret:

"I hate the fact that if there wasn’t so much shame around it, I’d have gotten it done 10 years ago. I thought I was alone, but seven or eight out of 10 [men] suffer from thinning or baldness."

He further added:

"They don't do anything except move your hair, one by one, from one area to another. It's my hair and I'm not using this stuff [on the side] and I'd like to put it up [on the top]. If somebody’s going to sweat me for that, I don’t think there’s any shame in that. It completely changed the course of my life."

John Cena opens up about the tough period following his hair transplant surgery in November

The Vacation Friends actor, Cena, discussed the tough period he had to go through after his hair transplant surgery in November 2024, when progress was pretty slow. He said:

"I came back for the [WWE] retirement tour starting in January- these are the deets you guys don't know - there's what's called a dormant phase, where the little hair [that was left] falls asleep and the new hair falls asleep. So boy, do you get bald. And January, February, early March was my dormant phase. And boy, did [the fans] let me have it. So every day I knew I went out there with so much more of a bald spot. It was not easy."

Trending

While talking about how passionate he is to share his side of the story, thinking that it might help other people as well, John Cena said:

"There's definitely a lot of folks out there that are wearing that blanket of shame where, man, maybe you don't want to shave your head. And if this resonates with anybody out there and they're like, 'Man, I'd like to research that too,' then cool. Maybe we have curbed the shame and the guilt about somebody wanting to correct themselves."

×

Was this article helpful?

Thank You for feedback