Tan France didn’t expect to leave his famous pompadour behind in 2024, but he did.
The British fashion expert and Queer Eye star, 41, may be known for his coiffed salt-and-pepper updo, but he revealed in a Page Six interview published on Jan. 23 that he decided to make some changes to it with the persuasion of fans.
“I would love to say it’s because I just fancied a change,” the stylist told the outlet. “But really, what sparked it was I did something that I try really hard not to do — which is I looked at comments about myself after the new season.”
Tan France/Instagram
He explained that, every time a new season of the reboot comes out (season 9 was released on Dec. 11, 2024), he considers viewers’ feedback for future episodes. And that’s when he realized his most recognizable asset was causing a bit of a stir.
“I saw so many people hate my hair. And I thought, ‘Oh, I didn’t realize they hated [it] so much. So maybe I’ll try something [new] while I’m still ‘relatively’ young,’” he said.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Michael Simon
The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!
Despite the criticism attached to it, France shared that he’s feeling “better” with his refreshed hairdo, which is shorter on the top. He also hopes that it can reflect his playful personality better than his previous look, which seemingly added to the “uptight” perception fans had of him.
“I can’t believe that my hair made people think that I was that uptight. It was just … I’ve had that same hair for 15 years. It was just easy for me to do. I could do my hair in literally two to three minutes maximum. But apparently people thought I spent an hour on my hair.”
France cut his hair on Dec. 24 and debuted the surprising transformation on Instagram on Jan. 1. “New Year, New hair phase of my mid-life crisis,” he wrote.
The Queer Eye cast — also including Jonathan Van Ness, Antoni Porowski, Karamo Brown and Jeremiah Brent — are currently touring the U.S. on “The Fab Five Live!” tour that kicked off in December in New York City. The event will conclude with a scheduled show in Los Angeles on March 12.
Read the full article here
