"My beard is my strength."
Former footballer
Ashley Cain has explained why he is growing his beard long – and why he has no plans to trim it again.
Ashley's daughter Azaylia passed a way last year when she was eight months old, after being diagnosed with a form of leakaemia. Since her passing, Ashley has been taking part in a number of physical challenges to raise money for a
charity he set up in her name.
During an interview with GMB this morning, Ashley explained why he is keeping his beard long, and shared that it's a tribute to his daughter.
He told Rob Rinder and Kate Garraway that Azaylia used to love playing with the very hairs that are on his face right now, and that he gets a lot of strength from it.
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Recalling when Azaylia was very ill, he said: "When we were in the hospital, we couldn't get out so I couldn't get a haircut. So I ended up developing and growing this beard, so as my daughter got older, she ended up holding it and rubbing her feet through it.
"And because I haven't got her with me anymore, I wanted to keep my beard. I leave it because I feel like I am Samson and my beard is my strength."
Earlier today, it was announced that Ashley would be one of the participants taking part in this year's Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. As the show launched, he said that one of the reason's he was taking part was to push himself outside of his comfort zone in order to better cope with his loss.
"Losing my daughter was the most difficult experience of my life," he said. "I think to combat trauma you need to step outside your comfort zone and see who you really are. There’s no better way to do that than on
Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, so when the opportunity came, I took it with both hands!”
