Balding Aussie 'looksmaxxing' influencer has his wig snatched off his head in wild viral video: 'Looked like an entirely different person'

A video of an Australian 'looksmaxxing' influencer getting his wig stolen during a livestream in a Brisbane street mall has reached 40 million viewers on X.

Known as Androgenic, he was on camera in Fortitude Valley when a young man snatched his cap to reveal the social media star's balding head.

He quickly pounced on the culprit and retrieved his cap, which had a long-haired wig sewn into it.

During the livestream shared on the Kick platform, Androgenic can be heard saying, 'I've just had a hair transplant bro,' and adding: 'That's gonna go as viral as f***.'

The influencer's prediction turned out to be spot on, with the cringeworthy clip reportedly viewed by tens of millions on X.

And the platform's followers have used the viral clip to slam Androgenic, who is part of an online body improvement cult for men known as 'looksmaxxing'.

'He looked like an entirely different person,' said one person, referring to the hunky social media star's posts which feature him with a full head of hair. 

'There's genuinely no coming back from this,' added another, while a third commented: 'Laughing hard and feeling sorry for him at the same time.'

Androgenic posted his own response explaining that he had done nothing to hide the truth about his looks.

Appearing in the selfie at first in his wig and cap, Androgenic can be seen pulling off his hat and saying: 'I've been going extremely viral for having my wig snatched off.'

After mentioning how widely spread his clip has been shared, he continued: 'I don't think people realise that I have been publicly spamming about [being bald] for like two months.

'And I've literally, publicly made videos showing that I'm wearing a wig, like days ago.'

He added: 'I'm really glad this is going viral, no aura has been lost, I can tell you.'

During the brief clip, which has been viewed on X by over 456,000 viewers since it was posted on Sunday, Androgenic showed a dozen screen grabs of videos featuring his 'bad look' and wigs.

Elsewhere on the thread, Androgenic confirmed he had a hair transplant four weeks ago, claiming it cost him '$271,000'.

'The problem isn't so much about wearing a wig,' someone responded.

'You were trying hard to be someone that you were not and got exposed for it.'

Another went on the attack: 'The best thing you could do is start being honest. You are leading a whole generation of men astray for 'views'.'

The viral trend known as 'looksmaxxing' involves a spectrum of 'self-improvement' measures - some as extreme as plastic surgery.

There's also 'softmaxxing', which urges boys to undertake expensive 12-step skincare routines. 

Additionally there is 'starvemaxxing', which is about cutting food consumption, losing fat and thereby accentuating musculature or facial bone structure. 

'Mewing' is a technique said to reshape the jawline by repositioning the tongue against the roof of the mouth (but which remains entirely unproven).

Astonishingly, even dangerous DIY methods such as 'bone-smashing' – breaking bones in the belief this will improve facial structure – are advocated online.

The term looksmaxxing was coined on obscure websites in 2014 and started with incel culture – a group of 'involuntarily celibate' men who blame women for denying them relationships. 

Androgenic has an online following where he offers advice about men's looks.