Body Expert on TF1: hair transplants in Turkey on Grands Reportages
On Saturday 4 April 2026, the French channel TF1 devoted a whole edition of its magazine programme ‘Grands Reportages’ to hair. The episode is called ‘Sacrés cheveux !’, and it was broadcast at 1.40pm. On the menu: everything even remotely connected with our hair, from haute couture to puffer jackets made of human hair, and, along the way… hair transplants.
On Saturday 4 April 2026, TF1 broadcast at 1.40pm, in its magazine programme ‘Grands Reportages’, an edition devoted entirely to hair: ‘Sacrés cheveux !’. Indian extensions, puffer jackets filled with recycled hair, haute couture dresses made of hair… and hair transplants in Istanbul.
It was in that last segment that the TF1 cameras followed Fabien, 42, and his cousin Benjamin, 33, two Body Expert patients, from their decision through to the result seven months later. Their journey, filmed without a filter, tells what many men go through in silence: the daily weight of hair loss, the turning point, and the change that follows a hair transplant in Turkey (Knoedler et al., 2023 ; Tan & Jafferany, 2025).
Two different profiles, two stories of hair loss, but the same turning point: the day they decided they had had enough.
Watch the extract from the report
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Benjamin, 33: ‘It puts a smile on my face every morning when I wake up’
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Benjamin had been losing his hair since 2020. Five years of never going out without a cap or a beanie. Five years of avoiding mirrors, of changing the way he did things, of feeling his confidence wear away a little further with every morning that passed. It is a pattern many men will recognise when they are affected by androgenetic alopecia, the hereditary baldness that often starts at the temples and does not stop there.
In the report, Benjamin makes no attempt to hide the extent of the damage. He shows his scalp to his cousin and laughs, playing on the French word for receding temples, les golfes, which sounds just like the Gulf: ‘Take a look at me. The Gulf War. War, yeah, but this one’s the Two Gulfs War. Because there, you’ve got two of them.’
So what was it that made up his mind? A WhatsApp group filled with before and after photographs of men who had had the transplant. ‘That WhatsApp group is what made me take the plunge. Otherwise I’d still be there, on the sofa, with no hair.’ He scrolls through the transformations in front of the camera: ‘It’s not the same person any more. It’s impressive.’
On the day of the operation, Benjamin knows exactly what he wants. He shows the surgeon a photo of Nav, a Canadian rapper. ‘He’s a magnificent rapper from Canada. And he has a magnificent hairline. That’s exactly what I want.’ The surgeon confirms it can be done. Benjamin is elated: ‘It makes me happy, because I was afraid they’d tell me “we need to keep it more natural”. It’s brilliant.’
Seven months later, Benjamin goes back to the hairdresser for the first time. He settles in at the shampoo basin and savours a very simple moment: ‘I’ve never known this feeling of porcelain on the back of my neck.’ The straight hairline inspired by Nav is there, exactly as he asked for it. And the impact goes well beyond the physical:
‘I feel better. Oddly enough. In fact, I didn’t realise I’d been feeling so bad until I looked like this. It puts a smile on my face every morning when I wake up. It might sound silly, but it’s interesting.’
Benjamin, 33
Fabien, 42: ‘That’s ten years of baldness gone in a single day’
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Near Grenoble, in south-east France, Fabien and his partner Sandy are what you would call an active couple. Boxing, strength training, a minimum of two hours of sport every day. ‘The good thing is that we’re still fairly easy on the eye. We’ve kept our looks.’ Physically, Fabien reckons he can hold his own against men in their thirties. His unease lies somewhere else.
Like 30 to 50% of men, Fabien is losing his hair (Mendoza et al., 2025). He has been shaving his head for years to hide his receding temples. At home, he almost never takes his cap off. To gauge the extent of his hair loss, specialists use the Norwood scale, a reference tool describing 7 stages of male pattern baldness.
What he says to camera strikes a chord with many men:
‘In my own mind I’m still young, I’m active. And being bald, oddly enough, makes me feel old.’
Sandy, who has never known him with hair, makes no secret of her curiosity: ‘Me, I’ve always known him like this, and I love him like this. But it’s true that I’m still looking forward to seeing how it might look with hair.’
On the day of the operation, the surgeon draws Fabien’s future hairline. ‘I get a flash of an old passport photo. That was the hairline I had.’ In a single day, 3,750 grafts are extracted and then implanted. As he comes out, the emotion is palpable:
‘They’re my little babies, I’m going to pamper them. That’s ten years of baldness, gone in the space of a day.’
Seven months later, Fabien still cannot quite take it in. He tugs at his hair in front of the camera to check: ‘I pulled on it to see whether the transplant had been done properly. It holds, certified.’ What has really changed is the way other people look at him:
‘The confidence was always there. What’s different now is the way other people look at me. When I take the cap off, people see hair. “You’ve got hair, you’re the good-looking one now.” That’s the point, being the good-looking one.’
Fabien, 42
The big day in Istanbul: behind the scenes of the procedure
The TF1 report shows the operation exactly as it unfolds, with nothing staged for the camera. Here is what viewers were able to see.
It all begins with the consultation with the surgeon, who draws the future hairline directly onto the scalp. ‘Lift your eyebrows as if you’d just been taken by surprise. That lets us see the point where the muscle stops. We try not to draw over the muscle, because it’s an area where there’s movement.’
Then the two cousins exchange a kiss on the cheek before each goes into theatre: ‘And we’ll see each other again with hair, never bald again. Don’t you worry.’
Extracting the grafts takes about two hours. 3,750 follicles harvested one by one from the donor area, with the help of micro punches. Then comes the implantation, under local anaesthetic, over five hours. The principle: one graft taken, one left in place, one taken, two left, so as to preserve the density of the donor area.
The next day, a check-up with the surgeon. The grafts are clean. But the doctor is straightforward: for full coverage of the crown, a second session will be needed within a year. The aftercare instructions are strict: no sun, no caps (rubbing could pull the grafts out).
How does a hair transplant with Body Expert work?
For anyone discovering Body Expert through this TF1 report, here is how it works in practice.
- It all starts with a remote diagnosis. You send a few photos of your scalp, and our surgeons assess the number of grafts needed. You receive a detailed quote, free of charge and with no commitment.
- Body Expert organises the whole stay. Airport, hotel and clinic transfers, accommodation in a 5-star hotel, coordination of the medical appointments. All you have to do is catch your flight; we take care of the rest.
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On the day, the pre-operative medical checks are compulsory: blood tests, examination of the scalp. Then the procedure. Depending on your profile, our surgeons use the FUE technique, DHI with a Choi pen, or Sapphire FUE. Allow between 4 and 8 hours, under local anaesthetic preceded by a needle-free pre-anaesthetic. Our DHI vs FUE comparison will help you choose.
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After the procedure, the follow-up carries on. Instructions on washing your hair after a transplant, on aftercare, and remote support in the weeks and months that follow.
The first visible results appear at around 4 to 6 months, and the final result between 12 and 18 months. To understand the full timeline, see our page on what happens after a hair transplant.
Before-and-after results: seeing is believing
Benjamin and Fabien are by no means isolated cases. Every year, thousands of patients go through Body Expert and share their own transformations. Have a look at our gallery of before and after results to get a concrete idea of what a hair transplant can change.
Frequently asked questions
Which is the hair transplant clinic that appears in the TF1 report?
It is Body Expert. The agency has a hair transplant clinic of its own in Istanbul, where its surgeons operate. Body Expert oversees the whole process, from the very first consultation through to 12 months of care after the operation. Founded by Burak Engineri, the agency supports thousands of French-speaking patients every year. It was in this clinic that Benjamin and Fabien were filmed by TF1.
Which is the hair transplant clinic in Turkey that features in the ‘Sacrés cheveux !’ report?
The episode ‘Sacrés cheveux !’, broadcast in Grands Reportages on TF1 on 4 April 2026, follows two patients of Body Expert. The agency owns a clinic of its own measuring 11,800 m² in Istanbul, with 13 operating theatres given over to hair transplantation. That is the facility that the TF1 cameras filmed.
What is the name of the hair transplant agency in Istanbul that you see on TF1?
It is Body Expert. The agency organises all-inclusive medical stays in Istanbul. What sets it apart: no subcontracting, no middlemen. The packages include the procedure, the hotel, the transfers and support in French from beginning to end.
How do you find the hair transplant clinic from the TF1 report?
Go to bodyexpert.online and request a free quote. Send a few photos of your scalp and the French-speaking team will get back to you within 24 hours with a personalised assessment. It is free and involves no commitment.
How many grafts were implanted in the course of the report?
The report shows 3,750 grafts implanted in a single session. That is a volume towards the top of the range observed in practice, between 500 and 4,000 grafts per session (Wang et al., 2024). For more advanced cases, a second session can be envisaged, as the report itself mentions.
How much does a hair transplant with Body Expert cost compared with France?
In France, the price of a hair transplant depends on the number of grafts actually implanted, on the technique and on the options chosen: the headline price advertised therefore does not always match the final amount.
At Body Expert, the packages include everything: the procedure with unlimited grafts, a 5-star hotel, transfers and French-language support, for savings of as much as 70%. There are more details on our hair transplant price page.
Is it safe to have a hair transplant in Turkey?
Turkey, and Istanbul in particular, has become the leading destination in the world for hair transplantation; the literature does stress, however, that the quality of the care provided there varies a great deal from one centre to the next (Haider et al., 2025). Body Expert applies strict quality and hygiene criteria in its own clinic, pre-operative checks are carried out as standard, and the follow-up carries on after you get home. To take this further: risks of a hair transplant in Turkey.
In which TF1 report does Body Expert appear?
In the episode ‘Sacrés cheveux !’ of the magazine programme ‘Grands Reportages’ on TF1, broadcast on Saturday 4 April 2026 at 1.40pm. Available on catch-up on TF1+.
Can you bring someone with you for your transplant?
Absolutely. As the report shows, Fabien and Benjamin made the trip together, as cousins. Body Expert organises the stay for two people without any difficulty, whether the person with you is a patient too or simply there for support.
What success rate can you expect from a hair transplant?
With a sound diagnosis and a qualified surgeon, the survival rate of the grafts is high: a series of 158 men operated on with the FUE technique records an average of 91%, within a range of 89 to 95% at twelve months (Wang et al., 2024). The factors that make all the difference are set out here: a successful hair transplant.
Are the reviews left by Body Expert patients available to read?
Yes. Beyond Fabien and Benjamin, thousands of patients share their own experience. Have a look at the reviews of hair transplants with Body Expert.
Sources
Haider, S. A., Hasanzade, S., Borna, S., Gomez-Cabello, C. A., Pressman, S. M., Genovese, A., Trabilsy, M., Prabha, S., Collaco, B. G., & Forte, A. J. (2025). The allures and the alarms of the hair transplant tourism industry. Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, 49(17), 4745–4753. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00266-025-05018-0
Knoedler, L., Ruppel, F., Kauke-Navarro, M., Obed, D., Wu, M., Prantl, L., Broer, P. N., Panayi, A. C., & Knoedler, S. (2023). Hair transplantation in the United States: A population-based survey of female and male pattern baldness. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery – Global Open, 11(11), e5386. https://doi.org/10.1097/GOX.0000000000005386
Mendoza, L. A., Ocampo, G. G., Abarca-Pineda, Y. A., Ahmad Khan, M., Ahmadi, Y., Brown, N., Deowan, D., & Nazir, Z. (2025). Comprehensive review on hair loss and restorative techniques: Advances in diagnostic, artistry, and surgical innovation. Cureus, 17(4), e82991. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.82991
Tan, I. J., & Jafferany, M. (2025). Psychological dimensions of hair transplantation: A narrative review of current evidence. Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology, 24(10), e70475. https://doi.org/10.1111/jocd.70475
Wang, F., Chen, Y., Yang, C., Li, C., Zhang, H., He, J., Li, M., Lei, T., Lei, H., Liu, B., & Zhang, W. (2024). Using the follicular unit extraction technique in treatment of male androgenetic alopecia. BMC Surgery, 24(1), 358. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12893-024-02655-1