Riddle of Terry Wogan's three separate wigs finally solved as Frank Skinner lifts the lid on mystery

Published: 22:04 BST, 26 September 2026 | Updated: 22:32 BST, 26 September 2026

Ten years on from the death of Sir Terry Wogan, one of showbiz's longest-running mysteries has finally been solved – he not only wore a wig, he had three of them.

The hair on his second wig was slightly longer than hair on the first, and hair on the third toupee was a tad longer still.

So when he replaced a hairpiece it looked as if his hair was growing. Then when he reverted to wearing the first wig, it seemed as if he'd had a haircut.

Sir Terry, who died of prostate cancer aged 77, was long rumoured to wear a wig – but never commented on it.

Now comedian and presenter Frank Skinner has lifted the lid in the latest episode of his podcast Frank Off The Radio.

Skinner, now 69, reveals: 'I worked with Terry Wogan and he had three wigs that he would put on – weeks one, two and three, so his hair became longer.

'And then he'd go back to one like he'd had a haircut. But, to be fair to him, he had that psoriasis thing on the scalp, so he couldn't really have been on telly without it.'

Sir Terry, who hosted the Radio 2 breakfast show for 27 years and fronted the Children in Need appeal and Eurovision Song Contest, died just three months after his cancer was diagnosed.

The hair on Sir Terry Wogan's second wig was slightly longer than hair on the first, and hair on the third toupee was a tad longer still 

Sir Terry, who died of prostate cancer aged 77, was long rumoured to wear a wig – but never commented on it (Pictured: Sir Terry in 2015)

His son Mark, 55, a restaurateur, revealed: 'We discovered Dad had cancer because he suddenly had extraordinary back pain.

'He was about to do Children in Need that year and he was like "Oh my back is killing me! Ugggh! I'm going to go and get hydrocortisone in my back."

'So he goes off to see the guy who used to always put it in his knee every year so he could do seven hours of standing up.

'I went, "I don't like this. I want to get you scanned". They scanned him and they had no idea how he'd walked in because the tumour was about to sever his spinal cord in the middle of his back.

'So he went straight into surgery, had the lump removed, pins and bolts and everything holding his back together. He was dead 12 weeks later because it was too late.'

Sir Terry is buried near Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, beside wife of 50 years Lady Helen, who died in 2024. 

They have another son and daughter. A second daughter died when she was three weeks old.