Ian Harding: ‘I can’t wait to get my body hair back’

Pretty Little Liars star Ian Harding won’t miss having to shave his chest now the show has ended.
The TV heartthrob, who has played former teacher Ezra Fitz for seven seasons, is celebrating the end of PLL with a new memoir out next month (May17), called Odd Birds.
Sex scenes called for zero body hair and a “smooth, porpoise-y chest”, he explains in an extract, and Harding, 30, admits he was often left in “agony” after removal sessions.
He was allowed to keep the hair on his head – but he couldn’t change the style.
“I know that once it’s (Pretty Little Liars) done there will be some big changes,” he writes in his book. “Like my hair. I’ve been contractually obligated to have the same haircut for the last seven years.”
But he seems most excited about the prospect of growing some hair on his chest.
“I don’t have to worry about shaving it again for work…,” he adds. “(That’s when) I’ll be reminded that the show is really over. That might be when I start to feel nostalgic.”
He also admits that in the early days of the show, upcoming sex scenes meant the cast steered clear of unhealthy snacks at the craft service (refreshment) table and made a beeline for their dressing rooms instead – to work out.
And though Ian got used to love scenes with Lucy Hale, who played his longterm TV love interest Aria Montgomery, things weren’t so relaxed when the couple filmed its very first make-out scene.
“I flossed at least three times before that scene,” Harding laughs. “I had a bottle of mouthwash with me on set, and I gargled between every take.”
The final episode of PLL aired on Tuesday night (18Apr17).