Entrepreneur gets his smile back on new TV show

Leadership mentor, speaker and consultant Gary Parsons has found a new smile thanks to working with the team behind a new Channel 4 series called ‘Love My Face’.

Gary has had a facial difference since he was 18 years old – and says he has always struggled to come to terms with the way he looks.

The 41-year-old woke up when he was a teenager to find the right side of his face was numb and wouldn’t move. He was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy, which causes facial paralysis.

While 70% of those who experience Bell’s Palsy will make a full recovery within three to six months, Gary’s facial difference was permanent.

He said: “I was always entrepreneurial, building computers and designing graphics for friends, family, even my teachers, from a young age.

“But when I woke up at 18 with one side of my face paralysed, everything changed.

“It knocked my confidence and made me question how people would see me.

“I threw myself into work, but I never truly accepted how I looked – I just learned to hide it well.”

From then on, Gary found himself with a visible difference and having to navigate a world where facial expressions play a massive role in day-to-day life.

He confesses that he was so self-conscious of his face that he made a decision not to smile because smiling amplified that difference.

He said: “I couldn’t cope with seeing myself in the mirror – it became a daily battle.

“I’d cry just looking at my reflection, so eventually I stopped looking altogether.

“The only way I felt I could navigate life was to stop smiling. It became my armour.

“But my mask would slip sometimes, and people would ask ‘What’s wrong with your smile?’ and that would set me back years. I struggled to smile for over 20 years.”

The fear of being judged on appearance never really went away even though Gary went on to build a successful business Talk Staff.

About a year ago, Gary stepped away from that business and launched his consultancy as a leadership mentor, workshop facilitator and consultant.

He also launched his podcast – Leaders in Disguise, which taps into his mission to break the stigma of mental health and wellbeing in leadership.

Gary has battled severe depression and anxiety in his life yet has still found business success.

He said: “I started speaking openly about my Bell’s Palsy in 2021, and that led to amazing support from the charity Facial Palsy UK and eventually a referral to a specialist clinic.

“When the ‘Love My Face’ team reached out, it felt like the right time to explore something I’d quietly struggled with for years – my smile.

“The show gave me space to reflect, and they helped me to accept myself and to also consider the possibility of ‘smile’ surgery.”

‘Love My Face’ is a four-part series, fronted by Jono Lancaster and produced by Flabbergast TV , which follows a collection of people with facial differences.

During his episode Gary is given the option of undergoing facial surgery. The series began airing on 17 April.

To download episodes, visit https://www.channel4.com/programmes/love-my-face.