David Robert spent six seasons discussing relationships, identity, confidence and everyday life in front of a national television audience on MTV Canada’s 1 Girl 5 Gays.
Today, the former television personality has entered an entirely different chapter as the founder of Toronto Scalp Micropigmentation Studio.
The transition from Canadian television to scalp micropigmentation may seem unexpected, but Robert says the two chapters of his career share a common thread: identity, appearance and confidence. “Being on television makes you incredibly aware of presentation and the way people see you, but it also teaches you how personal confidence really is,” says Robert. “SMP is obviously a completely different industry, but I’m still working with people around something that can have a major impact on how they feel about themselves.”
Robert became known to Canadian audiences through MTV Canada’s 1 Girl 5 Gays, the candid roundtable series hosted by Aliya Jasmine Sovani. The program became known for open conversations about dating, relationships, identity, sexuality and pop culture, with Robert appearing across six seasons.
Years later, Robert pursued a very different professional direction and founded Toronto Scalp Micropigmentation Studio in 2023.
Scalp micropigmentation, commonly known as SMP, is a non-surgical cosmetic treatment that uses precisely placed pigment impressions to replicate the appearance of natural hair follicles. It can be used to recreate the look of a closely shaved hairline, add the appearance of density through thinning areas or help camouflage visible scalp scars.
Robert says one of the most important parts of the treatment is creating a result that feels individual to the person receiving it.
“A hairline is incredibly personal,” he says. “It has to work with someone’s face, age, existing hair and the way they actually want to look. We design it collaboratively, and we don’t begin until the client genuinely loves the direction we’re taking.”
He says modern SMP has also moved considerably beyond the overly sharp or artificial-looking results some people may associate with older examples of the treatment.
“The best SMP shouldn’t announce itself,” says Robert. “The goal is for the impressions to replicate natural follicles so convincingly that the overall result simply looks like it belongs there.”
His work now includes scalp micropigmentation for men and women, hairline and density treatments, scar concealment, beard and facial micropigmentation and SMP touch-ups, with clients visiting from across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
Robert sees the studio as part of a larger personal reinvention that began long after his television career.
“There can be a strange pressure to stay connected to whatever people first knew you for,” he says. “Television will always be part of my story, and I’m grateful for it, but it doesn’t have to define everything that comes afterward. Building a completely different career has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve done.”
Robert says his experience moving between two very different industries has also changed the way he thinks about career identity.
“You’re allowed to evolve,” he says. “A career doesn’t have to follow one straight line. Sometimes the things you learn in one chapter become unexpectedly useful in the next.”
