Even the Kardashians have insecurities! Reinvent your identity, with Chris Appleton
Happy Place
Fearne Cotton
4.7 • 15.6K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2026
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why do we change our hair when we want to start over? Celebrity hair stylist Chris Appleton knows that when someone sits in his chair, he has their future confidence in his hands.
In this chat with Fearne, Chris explains that everyone from the Kardashians to cancer patients have opened up to him about their insecurities, and he’s seen the profound impact that looking more like yourself on the outside can have on how you feel about yourself on the inside.
He’s also fascinated by the self-limiting beliefs people have about who they are. Think you’re not classy enough for a sleek bob? Not cool enough to dye your hair? Chris says think again!
Chris has dealt with a lot of his own shame and fears too. He was bullied at school, struggled to acknowledge his sexuality, and had huge imposter syndrome when he first arrived in Hollywood, so has lots of thoughts on finding your true self again.
Plus, Chris gives Fearne a little consultation, and he reckons she can go much bolder with her hair...
Chris’ book, Your Roots Don’t Define You, is out now.
CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains frank conversation about suicidal ideation, so take care while listening.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Before we start, this episode contains some chat you might find difficult to hear, so do check the show notes for more details. |
| 0:08.2 | Hello and welcome to Happy Place with me, Fern Cotton. This is the show that finds ways to reclaim your confidence. |
| 0:16.0 | Today I'm chatting to Chris Appleton. We don't always look in the mirror and see ourselves and go, is this truly who I am or who |
| 0:24.1 | I decided to be or was I kind of told to be this way? |
| 0:28.0 | And then when you open up those doors of reinvention, whether it's Mrs. Jones that comes |
| 0:32.1 | in the salon, a cancer patient that lost a hair or a celebrity like Kim or J-Lo, when you |
| 0:37.2 | truly see people and you help them |
| 0:40.2 | see that they're not defined by their past and they can reinvent themselves at any age or any |
| 0:45.4 | stage in their life, really powerful. Oh God. I am excited about this one. Okay. So I think we've all |
| 0:53.9 | got pretty strong feelings about our hair. It's such a |
| 0:58.2 | huge part of our identity and I can look back over the years. I've got to laugh because when I look |
| 1:06.3 | back at old pictures of myself, I have got some absolute stinkers in terms of haircuts and colours. |
| 1:15.0 | I don't even know where to start. Let me just run through some of my highlights or low lights. |
| 1:21.1 | Once I tried to get a haircut that I thought would look like one of the John Frieda twins, |
| 1:26.0 | and I ended up looking like Rod Stewart, |
| 1:31.5 | no offence Rod, but I was about 19 so that's not the look I was going for. |
| 1:36.8 | One time I then copied this really cool DJ that I loved and I dyed my hair black at the back and white at the front and I looked like a sort of terrified badger. |
| 1:41.5 | Another time I dyed it bright red. |
| 1:43.8 | Another time I cut it all off really, really short, |
| 1:46.6 | and I don't have the face for that. I've cut fringes on several occasions with deep regrets |
| 1:52.2 | seconds afterwards. I've had a perm. I've had a perm. I've had a perm with a straight fringe. |
| 1:57.7 | I think my natural inclination is to try and change my hair because I either feel bored |
... |
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