It’s no secret that constantly changing up your hair can have a big toll on hair health – especially for celebrities who are constantly dying and styling their tresses for events.
Recently, Nicole Kidman hit headlines after sporting a wig to her year’s Cannes Film Festival on Sunday, which was strikingly different to her naturally curly red hair.
The 57-year-old actress, who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, has previously said that she’s opted for headpieces for numerous film roles, claiming her real strands are too delicate to withstand numerous hairstyles and colours.
But she has now started wearing them to events, seemingly in the hopes for it to be a subtle addition to add volume to her strawberry blonde locks.
However, Nicole suffered a blunder when her mesh wig cap became visible as she posed on the red carpet despite her real hair being woven into it during the 2025 Kering Women in Motion Award event.
The mother-of-four is not the only star who has looked to covertly cover their thinning tresses over the years.
Media personalities such as Katie Price and Stacey Solomon have opted to wear natural-looking wigs for red-carpets and TV appearances. In fact, their manes looked so convincing, that fans were shocked when they eventually divulged that their hair was fake.
Keira Knightley even described how bleaching and changing her mane to fit different roles caused hair loss, revealing that she had to start wearing compelling-looking wigs for films that she starred in.
The hair gaffe was Kidman’s second mishap of the day after her hair piece appeared slightly off-centre to her natural scalp line when she sported an all-black ensemble
The mesh wig cap was visible as she posed for photos on the red carpet despite her real hair being weaved into it
Nicole’s Cannes look was drastically different to her naturally curly red locks. Pictured in 1989
Katie Price
The former glamour model, 46, said she suffered drastic hair loss following the birth of her five children, Harvey, Junior, Princess Jett, and Bunny.
She noticed that her hair was starting to thin out, which she believed to be as a result of numerous colour treatments coupled with the stress of parenthood.
Katie went on TV show Steph’s Packed Lunch in 2021 and admitted she has since resorted to wearing wigs on a regular basis in a bid to restore her shattered confidence.
She said: ‘I love to change my hair every day. One day I’m blonde, the next brunette. But many people might not realise this isn’t my real hair.
‘Me and wigs have a relationship. I absolutely love them. These days it doesn’t matter if you wear a wig or not, who cares? You can have so much fun with wigs.’
Hoping to break the stigma surrounding wigs, Katie insisted they were essential in helping her overcome the inevitable self-consciousness that can be caused by hair loss.
She added: ‘Wearing wigs isn’t just a fashion choice. Like millions of women I’ve experienced hair loss.
Katie Price is known for wearing long £1,000 extensions and constantly styling her hair
Katie admitted to wearing wigs after suffering hair loss and damaged hair (pictured, Katie wearing a short blonde bob wig)
Katie appeared on Steph’s Packed Lunch and spoke about her hair loss due to her pregnancies in 2021
‘When I started modelling I had really long hair and started colouring it. I had kids and started balding, had extensions, but do you know what, I have to give my hair a rest.’
The TV personality also revealed the extent of her hair loss by showing off an exposed patch of skin above her right ear.
Katie added: ‘Hair is very important, it’s your identity. For me it is a confidence thing.
‘Losing your hair can be traumatic, whatever the reason. It could be genetic, stress related or the side effects of cancer treatments like chemotherapy. I’m going to be wearing wigs all the time and showing them off.’
Keira Knightley
The actress, 40, said has been relying on wigs for many years as her job requires her to dye her hair to fit different roles.
She had a short blonde bob in Bend It Like Beckham, a dirty blonde shoulder-length hair cut in Love Actually and wavy brunette locks in Pride and Prejudice.
Kiera told Instyle UK in 2016: ‘I have dyed my hair virtually every colour imaginable for different films. It got so bad that my hair literally began to fall out of my head.’
The Pirates of the Caribbean star said that she was even set big boxes of products for female baldness and said that she had ‘no idea’ why she was gifted it.
Kiera Knightley said that she has started wearing wigs for her parts in films after her hair falling out (pictured in the The Imitation Game)
The Hollywood actress said that wearing wigs has ‘saved her hair’ as she used to style it for almost every film (pictured in Pirates Of The Caribbean – Curse Of The Black Pearl)
Kiera told The Cut: ‘I wear wigs for films. Which is a great thing and has saved my hair, because when you are on a film set and they are doing your hair everyday and dying it a million different colours, it does tend to fall out.’
Stacey Solomon
The mother-of-five said she likes wearing wigs to cover up her grey hairs without having to constantly dye it and to help conceal broken strands.
She revealed to her fans that she is partial to wearing a wig in 2018 when she uploaded a video of her washing the fake hair on Instagram.
Stacey shampooed the wig in the bath using her knee and she couldn’t stop laughing when she realised it looked like a person without a face.
She said at the time: ‘I thought my wig needs a wash and I thought I’ll bring her in the bath with me,’ as her followers expressed their shocked that she wore a wig.
Stacey also wears the hairpiece to red carpet events such as the National Television Awards (NTAs).
Stacey Solomon said she likes wearing wigs to cover up her grey hairs without having to constantly dye it and to help conceal broken strands
Stacey also wears wigs to red carpet events such as the National Television Awards
She filmed herself ripping off her long blonde tresses which were glued to her head in a candid video, showing her followers all the work that really goes into polishing her appearance for a big evening out.
The former X-Factor star said years of after of bleaching and styling has meant that her natural tresses ‘are ruined’.
Stacey previously told The Sun: ‘After years of bleaching, tonging, blow-drying and straightening, my natural hair is completely ruined.
‘People always warned me not to dye my hair too much or use too much heat but I ignored their advice. I always wanted to go blonder, straighter, slicker. The result? Wiry, broken strands and a psoriasis-ridden scalp. Stress causes flare-ups and it’s so damn itchy.’
Stacey said that the only way she can get her natural hair back is to stop styling it, adding that it would be ‘impossible’ not to touch it.
Stacey revealed she wore wigs in 2018 when she filmed herself washing her hairpiece in the bath
She added: ‘My roots are 50 per cent ash brown, 50 per cent grey. I’m in my late 20s and it’s so depressing. I don’t want to look really old.’
The TV personality spent £1,000 on a blonde wig made from human hair that she named Suze, labelling it as an ‘investment’ that would last at least a decade.
Katy Perry
The singer, 40, has been rocking wigs since she her first couple of albums, especially her 2010 hit song California Gurls.
The music video saw her change her hair a whopping four times from a lilac wig to a sapphire wig, brunette pigtails and her signature black fringed bouncy blow-dry.
So it’s therefore no secret that Katy likes to don the occasional hairpiece every now and then.
In 2021, she ditched her platinum tresses in favour of a black wig for the American Idol episode that she starred in.
Katy was also interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel wearing her black hair and joked that ‘everything is fake’ after revealing she was, again, wearing wig which was tucked behind her blonde strands.
Katy Perry Katy was interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel wearing her black hair and joked that ‘everything is fake’ after revealing she was, again, wearing wig which was tucked behind her blonde strands
Last year, Katy filmed herself getting her black hair cut into a choppy bob and later revealed to fans that it was a wig
Last April, the mother-of-one posted that she was getting her raven-black hair cut short into a bob again, mirroring the look she used to wear in her heyday.
But after fans commented that they were getting ‘flashbacks’ over the hairstyle, Katy then went on to reveal that she was wearing a wig.
She later said on Instagram: ‘You guys had a lot of strong feelings about my haircut. ‘Let’s see that energy for KP6, ’cause this is just a wig.’
Vicky Pattison
The Geordie Shore personality, 37, said that she loves bond and clip-in extensions but said that constantly having them in her hair can take its toll on the health of her strands.
Vicky has previously uploaded Instagram images of herself donning an array of different hairstyles over the years.
In 2020, the broadcaster showcased a sleek new bob haircut in a bid to copy Victoria Beckham’s Posh Spice hairdo. However, she joked that she looked more like Edna from the Incredibles.
Vicky Pattison said that she loves bond and clip-in extensions but said that constantly having them in her hair can take its toll on the health of her strands
Vicky even tried to channel Victoria Beckham’s Posh Spice days with a sleek brunette bob wig
A year later, Vicky temporarily traded in her blonde locks for a curly raven-haired look – a drastic change from her natural hairstyle.
She wrote: ‘Curly Sue Coming through…. Ok, so this wig makes me miss my dark hair.’
The reality TV star also shared a video in the same year saying that she had been working hard to get her hair ‘as healthy and strong as it could be’ again.
She gave her natural tresses a break by donning various wigs, allowing her natural hair to grow underneath.
Kylie Jenner
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, 27, was a big fan of wigs in her ‘King Kylie’ era in the mid-2010s.
Every week, the youngest Jenner sister would seemingly have a new hairstyle every week, from bubble-gum blue hair to pink braids and even sage green.
The Keeping Up With The Kardashians star, 27, was a big fan of wigs in her ‘King Kylie’ era in the mid-2010s (pictured wearing a blonde wig in 2017)
Kylie certainly differentiated herself from her model sister Kendall, who has opted for relatively tame hairstyles and colours in comparison to her younger sibling.
The mother-of-two even believes that she started the trend of wearing wigs
She told Marie Claire in 2016: ‘I started wigs, and now everyone is wearing wigs. Kim [Kardashian] just used my wig guy last night…I just do whatever I want to do, and people will follow.’
It’s believed that Kylie has even influenced celebrities such as Chloe Ferry to start wearing wigs as the Geordie Shore star was often compared to her in 2017.
Jesy Nelson
The former Little Mix band member, 33, is another celebrity who has loved wearing wigs over the years to switch up her style without harming her locks.
In 2020, Jesy – who has naturally curly brunette hair – uploaded an image of herself sporting a long straight platinum blonde wig.
The former Little Mix band member, 33, is another celebrity who has loved wearing wigs over the years to switch up her style without harming her locks
Jesy has an array of wigs, from sleek red hair to curly brunette locks and even platinum blonde tresses
In 2021, she released the music video to her song Boyz featuring Nicki Minaj and had a different look in every shot.
This included long red tresses with braids, brown sleek straight hair, and chocolate-permed hair with hints of blonde.
Over the years, she has never tried to hide the fact that she steps out in different headpieces, as she filmed herself trying on different looks in 2022.
The first wig, which Jesy tried on was long white straight hair, while the second was voluminous brunette curls with blonde highlights.
This came after she shortly revealed her real tresses after ditching the hair extensions and wigs, captioning the photo: ‘Natural hair is finally healthy again’.
Chloe Ferry
The Geordie Shore star, 29, is a natural brunette but has extensively dyed her hair blonde throughout the years.
The Geordie Shore star, 29, is a natural brunette but has extensively dyed her hair blonde throughout the years so has experimented with wigs including this red one
Chloe even has a short brunette wig that she has previously showed off on her Instagram account
Chloe even launched wigs via her beauty line Chloe Ferry Cosmetics, where she is currently selling blonde, pink and purple wigs for upwards of £35
The constant bleaching and extensions damaged her mane and she was forced to turn to wearing wigs to cover up her ruined tresses.
In 2019, when she was 23, Chloe stepped out with a friend and images showed her fried, matted yellow hair.
She wore her blonde locks loose and styled in a side parting, but as she turned away the damage was clear to see on the back of her head.
The reality TV star has since turned to wigs to disguise the damage over the years, including a blonde wig shortly after the damage to her hair was revealed, a long curly red hairpiece and a short choppy brunette bob.
Chloe even launched wigs via her beauty line Chloe Ferry Cosmetics, where she is currently selling blonde, pink and purple wigs for upwards of £35.
