A few months ago they wrote in a newspaper that “ladies in red” like Concita De Gregorio copied Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s “honey blonde long bob” haircut. They could not have known how much those words would hurt them, which they now wish they had never published. Because the long blonde bob of the journalist and TV presenter (known face from In onda su La7) was and is a wig. Worn not for show, but to hide one of the most visible and feared side effects of cancer therapies.
“I was about to call the director because I’d rather have my hair, but now I’m wearing a wig that’s quite similar to my hair,” she revealed in an interview with Francesca Fagnani for the fourth episode of Beasts, which aired was on Rai2 last night.
“I’ve had a very busy year,” said the 59-year-old former unit director, who recently ran the European edition of The Hollywood Reporter, the American newspaper that covers the film industry. “I had cancer and had surgery in August. I speak of the past because I removed everything that I had to remove, but you can never fully speak of the past, but let’s say we’re on the right track.” No tears or hesitation. A dry, quiet story that went even more directly to the heart of the listener. Especially if he has lived the same path as he has.
So far, Concita De Gregorio had never spoken publicly about it. Few knew. “It’s the first time,” he said, “because then everyone comes back and looks a little sad and asks how you’re doing. But that’s just part of your life, not everything.” Born in Pisa (Italian father, Catalan mother), married for thirty years to fellow journalist Alessandro Cecioni, mother of four children, one of whom was adopted, was the most difficult moment for her to figure out how to tell the youngest that she lives in Australia. “I wanted to do it personally, but I was in very heavy therapy at the time.” She didn’t give up then either. “I convinced the doctors that it would be better for me to see my son than go into therapy without seeing him.”