Kristin Chenoweth's 'Female Mullet' Is The '80s Hair Choice She Wishes She Could Take Back
A triple threat star with film, music, and theater credits, Kristin Chenoweth rarely steps into the spotlight without her signature blond hair. The "Glinda" portrayer typically wears her mane in a range of chic styles, whether she's experimenting with blunt bangs or going for a long and sleek platinum 'do. So, fans were left with their jaws on the floor during a March 2026 episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" when the host brought out a throwback photo showing Chenoweth with a hairstyle people actually found attractive in the '80s.
The pic, taken in 1986 when Chenoweth was a high school cheerleader, showed her with a short layered cut in what we can only assume is her natural brown shade. She told Meyers it was a "perm bi-level cut" before warning viewers not to follow in her footsteps. "It was like the female mullet," she explained. "And my mom did the perm — Ogilvie — and it over-did. And so anyway, don't do this. If ever the '80s come back again, can we not?"
With vintage trends constantly being recycled, and some celebrity outfits from the '80s actually looking even cooler today, Chenoweth's worries about the style resurfacing are valid. She's not alone in her regret of this quintessential look, though. "The Bad Perm of '88," one Facebook user commented in solidarity. "We're all trauma bonded over it." But while Chenoweth retrospectively asked herself what she was "thinking with a perm and a bi-level" on "Today" in March 2026, not everyone found the look to be a deal-breaker. "Kristen Chenoweth has always had that star quality!" a Reddit user wrote in a thread highlighting the high school hairstyle. Love it or hate it, Chenoweth has ditched the female mullet for good in favor of a much more versatile hair strategy.
Kristin Chenoweth swapped her female mullet for hair extensions
Kristin Chenoweth has played around with her hairstyle a lot over the years; she's never gone back to the outdated female mullet of her youth, but she has shown up to red carpets and other public events with everything from bouncy waves and curly bobs to chic updos. She's also opened up about the fact that, like many women, she achieves most of these looks with the help of hair extensions.
"I have long hair but I have really really thin hair," she explained on "Anderson Live" in March 2012. "So what I like to do is add the extensions for volume." She revealed that at the time she was sourcing her extensions from Romania (this is just one of the countries where the real human hair used in wigs and extensions can come from). While they helped to create her ideal look, they weren't totally fool-proof. She told host Anderson Cooper that the glue holding the extensions to her head caught on fire when her scalp came in close contact with a candle, leaving her bun literally smoking. However, the extensions have been far more positive for the "Wicked" star than negative, since in addition to boosting her confidence, they also once saved her life.
On a January 2023 episode of "The View," Chenoweth recalled how she was knocked unconscious when a piece of lighting equipment on the set of "The Good Wife" fell onto her head, fracturing her skull and cracking her ribs, nose, and teeth. When she awoke in the hospital, the doctor asked about the "metal things" in her hair. It turns out that her extensions had acted "like a stitch," helping her to survive the ordeal. Her takeaway? "Never underestimate the power of a good weave!"