Hair Changes Celebrities Cringe Looking Back On

Celebrities may have access to the best hairstylists in the world, but that doesn't make them immune to a cringey hair look. Relatably, many famous faces have embraced a hairdo only to regret it later. Just ask "Live with Kelly & Mark" host Kelly Ripa, who's admitted to a number of hairstyles she's in no rush to return to. "[I regret] all of them. Every single haircut. All of my haircuts traumatized me," the former "All My Children" actor, who has sported everything from a voluminous bob with a deep side part to long waves over the years, told People in 2025.

But Ripa certainly isn't the only celeb with a chapter (or two) in their hair transformation they'd rather forget. Miley Cyrus had her bleached-blonde at-home dye job look, while Mariska Hargitay won't be bringing back her questionable pixie cut era. Then there were Beyoncé's bangs, which she hated so much she wore a wig to hide them.

A lot has been said about the super short bangs Courteney Cox sported in the 2000's "Scream 3," but no one despises the unflattering bangs that sat several inches above her eyebrows quite like the Gale Weathers actor. When Cox appeared on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" in 2026, host Jimmy Fallon jokingly donned a wig similar to the infamous locks to quiz her on the divisive hairstyle. Cox admitted that although she was behind the decision for her character to have bangs, she wasn't thrilled with how the dramatic look turned out. "You didn't love the bangs?" Fallon asked, to which Cox laughed and asked, "I mean, would you? Look at that. It's the worst hairdo."

Four years earlier, the "Friends" actor also had a lot to say about the cut on "The Drew Barrymore Show." After her "Scream" franchise co-star Neve Campbell brought up the notorious bangs, Cox responded, "Well, that was the worst ... I forgot about it." She recalled the moment the bangs, which were a hairpiece, were first cut, admitting her hairstylist didn't put it in the right place on her head before shaping it. "For some reason, someone put it here," she said, pointing to the midpoint of her scalp. "[They] started cutting and I went, 'Well I don't have a choice now!" Cox confirmed there was only one set of faux bangs on the set, which meant she was stuck with the look that would go down (bad) in movie hair history.

Mariska Hargitay is best known for her just-past-shoulder-length brunette waves. However, during season 3 of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (which debuted in 2001), the actor, who played Detective Olivia Benson, cut off multiple inches to create a super short, choppy pixie 'do that was dyed bright blonde. "My hairstylist had a glass of wine and I really should have known better. Maybe he'd thought I'd be aerodynamic when I was chasing perps. I have no idea. We went real short—shorter than anticipated," she told Allure in 2025. 

The star had also opened up about her hair regret to Allure a couple of years earlier. "... [My hairstylist] was cutting my hair, drinking wine, and it was looking cute — until, suddenly, it wasn't. I think he made a mistake and then had to go shorter than he intended. But my hair was just so short, there was no going back." She also shared how much she didn't enjoy the process of growing out the dramatic cut.

But it sounds like Hargitay has (thankfully) learned her lesson, albeit with some trial and error. "I was trying stuff out and didn't have the experience with hair or the attention to detail that I have today," she said of her hair journey. "Now I know immediately what works and what doesn't, but it took me some time to get there," she added.

Kaley Cuoco has had a head-turning hair transformation. She found fame as Penny Hofstadter on "The Big Bang Theory" with longer, blonde locks, but decided in 2014 she was ready for a fresh new look, which caused quite a stir online. "I just f***ing cut my hair off and didn't tell anyone," she recalled in the book "The Big Bang Theory: The Definitive, Inside Story of the Epic Hit Series" (via Glamour U.K.), referring to her cropped cut. "I was bored and sick of the hair, and what's funny is I thought by cutting my hair, I would spend less time in the hair and makeup chair," she added. 

But the actor soon learned that not all short haircuts are created equal. Her new pixie style was more high-maintenance than she realized, which led to instant regret. "That decision bit me in the ass and it took way longer to do my short hair. I was like, 'This is the worst decision! What was I thinking?!'" she said. 

Her drastic cut even became a joke on "The Big Bang Theory," with Mayim Bialik's character Amy Farrah Fowler stating in one scene, "Ever since I met Penny, I've been envious of her looks. That's why I was so happy when you cut your hair off." After Cuoco's character acted shocked, Amy continued, "You know what I mean. You were still hot, but like a 'Why'd that hot girl cut off all her hair?' hot."

Beyoncé has experimented a lot with her hair over the years, but she wasn't "Drunk In Love" with her 2003 bangs. The "Crazy In Love" hitmaker's mom, Tina Knowles, shared a video montage of her daughter sporting full, eyelash-skimming bangs with long, straight hair on Instagram in 2024, but confirmed in the caption that the forehead-covering look wasn't Beyoncé's favorite. "I remember this when she cut her bangs and I begged her not to because I knew she would not wear them ... and then they would take a long time to grow out. And she would put a wig back on. That's exactly what happened," Knowles wrote.

Beyoncé peeked through her full forehead bangs at the 2003 American Music Awards, but they'd been styled into curly, inward-turned curtain bangs mere days later at the Golden Globes (which almost made it look like she didn't even have bangs). Later that month, she ditched them completely and wore what appeared to be a blonde, mid-length, straight wig during a Super Bowl XXXVII press conference. 

But a bad experience with cringey bangs didn't stop this superstar from experimenting. "Being safe is boring. We all have those hair moments that are wildly unattractive at one point in our lives. But the beauty about hair is it grows," the "Irreplaceable" singer told CR Fashion Book in 2024.

Shakira's gorgeous, XXL curls have become a part of her iconic look as much as her hips that don't lie, but she once experimented with a far shorter 'do, which she doesn't look back on fondly. During a visit to France in 2012, when she was being honored by the French Minister of Culture, she stepped out with a blonde bob that was seemingly cut into different lengths, making it appear more messy than chic and sleek. Her locks also featured side-swept bangs, slightly tapered ends, and an uneven part. "Oh how terrible! That's a really bad haircut," she told Vogue while palming her face. The singer explained she got the bold chop on the advice of her then mother-in-law (seemingly referring to her ex-long-term partner Gerard Piqué's mom), but bluntly admitted, "Worst mistake of my life."

But it sounds like that's not the only time Shakira has cringed over a hairdo. During a launch party for her haircare line, Isima, in 2025, she shared (via People), "I always say that my hair has a mind of its own. The real diva here is my hair because it's pretty temperamental." She also touched on her multiple (flattering and not) hair changes, sharing, "I've been brunette. Then I decided to become blonde, because I heard that blondes have more fun. Don't know about that. Then I went to red. Then I went back to blonde. First I was wavy, then my hair totally changed to curly, then I became a mother. I lost a lot of hair, then I got it back."

Actor and model Emily Ratajkowski let the world see the haircut she hated on TikTok in 2025. "Yes, I have a filter on because I have the worst haircut of my life, and I need to feel pretty," she began the video, which showed her with bold, chest-length brunette locks. The "I Feel Pretty" actor then revealed dramatic, unblended, bluntly graduated bangs that originated from almost the back of her head. "The very nice man who did this to me, I think he was going British shag, British shaggy. But, like, the main thing is it's not me," she said.

A few days later, Ratajkowski offered an update on the unkempt cut (which she called "the worst haircut of my life") on Instagram as she attempted to style it with a curling iron, believing curls would make the blunt cut appear softer. She told her followers, "I just realized it was a really bad haircut when my friends were low-key concerned that I was stepping outside and wasn't more upset. They kept being like, 'You're handling it really well. I didn't realize how bad it was." Fortunately, it seems the model learned how to style the cut to make it less obvious, as the poorly executed chop was barely noticeable the following month.

In 2016, Miley Cyrus dyed her locks peroxide blonde and quickly realized that wasn't her best idea. The "Flowers" singer shared a lengthy Facebook post about how much she regretted her at-home dye job, which she showed off in a selfie of her posing in bed with a long pixie cut that gave off edgy, P!nk vibes. But Cyrus didn't love the style or how obsessed she'd become with how her tresses looked. "Learned a valuable lesson in this meaningless process. Bleached my f**king natural healthy ... hair rebelling out of boredom while dealing with a consecutive amount of time off ... something inside told me I'd regret it.... " she wrote, suggesting she already has. Cyrus also expressed that she now has a newfound appreciation for her natural hair color.

"The Last Song" actor also suggested she was having second thoughts about cutting her hair so short. "Either this s**t needs to grow out at super speed or I'm about to go in for [a haircut]," she added in her lengthy social media post. The 'do she regretted didn't stop the star from experimenting, though, as Cyrus' hair transformation has included multiple daring looks since then.

Jennifer Lawrence made the leap from long hair to short in 2013, but it's probably not one she'll make again. She stepped out on multiple occasions with a short, blonde pixie that barely reached her ears. Lawrence sometimes posed with sideswept bangs, and at other times, styled the choppy 'do pushed back with more volume. "I feel masculine, yes! It's so easy when I get out of the shower...I'm so bad at doing anything feminine, so this is perfect for me!" she told E! News of her dramatic hair change at the time. But she changed her mind (as proven by her decision to grow out the short 'do)

During a 2022 Vogue interview, the "Silver Linings Playbook" actor was asked, "Do you have any advice for anyone who wants to do a pixie cut?" Lawrence replied, "I mean, first off, that's mean. Obviously, my advice is don't do it. Think everything through." She also joked she wanted someone to go through all the old photos of her with the short haircut and edit them, quipping, "Just add extensions to them."

Savannah Guthrie's head-turning transformation hasn't included a vast array of haircuts and colors, but the "Today" anchor did once try, and regretted the red tresses. While celebrating a decade working on the morning show in 2021, Guthrie's co-star Dylan Dreyer asked her (via X), "When you look back at 10 years, is there a look of yours that you're like, 'I wanna try that again?'" Guthrie honestly responded, "No. Mostly it's like, 'Never try that again.' Mostly it's like, 'What was I thinking?!'" she said with a smile. Guthrie also quipped, "I don't know why I thought I needed to dye my hair red that one time." She recalled the day she turned up at the studio with red locks, recreating the fake smiles she received from people telling her they liked her new style.

Guthrie, who's nearly unrecognizable with her natural hair color, appeared to be referencing the warm, brassy chestnut locks she began sporting in August 2013. "[It's] just for fun, just a change," she said on "Today" at the time. The red look didn't last too long, though, as she was back to a honey-highlighted brunette by January 2014.

Before finding success as an actor, "This Is Us" actor Mandy Moore was a pop star with warm blonde hair. At the 2000 Teen Choice Awards, her 'do was super on trend thanks to her long flippy bob (a look that came back in a major way in 2024) with curtain bangs. But while the style worked for the time, Moore wasn't a fan looking back. Shortly after dying her locks brunette and opting for a pixie cut in 2002, she told People, "I look at pictures of myself with blonde hair and cringe."

The "Candy" hitmaker later spoke to PopSugar in 2017 about her beauty regrets, admitting, "There was definitely some dated hair that was no good. I look at anything [from] when I'm a blonde, and I shudder a little bit to myself. I know it's not terrible, and it was very of-the-moment, but it's so not me. It seems so like a completely different person." The singer-turned-actor admitted that she felt a lot more like herself since making brunette her signature color. Moore also revealed she had no plans to cut bangs again after wearing them in the rom-com "A Walk To Remember."

Jennifer Aniston has been open about how much she didn't like her choppy, layered hair in the '90s that became synonymous with the early days of her "Friends" character Rachel Green. In 2011, Aniston spoke to Allure about the heavily layered, face-framing, shoulder-skimming style known as "The Rachel." It is one of the trendiest '90s haircuts for that retro sitcom star look, and was created by hairstylist Chris McMillan. "I love Chris, and he's the bane of my existence at the same time because he started that damn Rachel, which was not my best look. How do I say this? I think it was the ugliest haircut I've ever seen."

But that wasn't the only time Aniston threw shade at one of her most famous 'dos. The "Marley and Me" actor later told Glamour, "I was not a fan of the 'Rachel.' That was kind of cringe-y for me." Aniston has gone on to have a stunning hair transformation since, including the longer, mid-blonde locks that would become her signature style years after she left The Rachel in her rear-view mirror.

Emma Watson has made no secret of not loving her hair in the early days of her fame. Speaking to Vogue Italia in 2015, she admitted (via Us Weekly), "When I see the images again from the first 'Harry Potter,' I immediately think how bad my hair was. It is always surprising for me, to see how long this period of time is, where I have come and from where I started." Thankfully, Watson has had a gorgeous transformation since then.

While the actor didn't elaborate on why she didn't love her early acting locks, it's not hard to imagine why she cringes when she looks back at her character Hermione Granger's hair. In 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,' released in 2001, Watson's character had mousy-brown locks with full bangs. Her mid-bicep-length 'do had a lot of texture, too, as Hermione's long locks appeared dry and frizzy, which likely made it tough to style. 

Seeing as Watson didn't love her long hair, it's not too surprising that she'd later chop it all off. The actor opted for a pixie cut in 2010, which she adored. "The stylist just grabbed the back of my hair and took a whole ponytail of hair out. It felt amazing. I love it," she told EW.