The Celebrity Traitors is back for another series of delicious back-stabbing and bluffing, but amongst all the plot twists, one constant remains: Claudia Winkleman’s hair. As raven-black and laser-cut precise as ever, the iconic full-fringe hairstyle had the players awestruck as Claudia welcomed them to the game.
‘She’s Claudia-patra!’ whispered Jerry Hall, after Claudia sprung out from a coffin to begin her presenting duties.
Claudia Winkleman’s hair is, in a word, astonishing. How is it possible for one woman to have hair so glossy, smooth and precisely angled? When we’re not coveting the TV presenter's castle wardrobe of riding boots and chunky knits, the world is desperate to know how she manages to have hair so perfect it almost looks like AI.
Naturally, ‘Claudia Winkleman’s hair’ is already a hot trending topic again, so we’ve taken a moment to celebrate its majesty and share everything we know about it – so far.
The fringe was an evolution
Yes, Claudia does have a forehead under there (and we have the evidence)! However, it’s all-but forgotten after nearly 30 years with the fringe. ‘There could be squirrels living under there for all I know,’ she previously told Good Housekeeping.
‘It started out quite wispy and floaty, but I immediately got my hairdresser to change it for a strong, Lego-like style. Once I saw that I fell in love and haven’t been without it since.’
She’s lost her old reason for having a fringe
Claudia’s fringe was once voted ‘the most annoying haircut on TV’, even prompting letters of complaint about it falling into her eyes. She didn’t mind one bit, and previously told us: ‘I couldn’t agree more! Even I know my fringe is bad. But basically I’ve got such bad eyesight, I can’t see it anyway, so it’s not a problem.’
Claudia was born with severe myopia, and spent a lifetime battling blurry vision with varying degrees of success. However, in 2025 she told her Instagram followers that she’d undergone a corrective operation that had finally made a real difference
Sharing a photo of herself with eye surgeon Dr Julian Stevens. ‘This amazing human makes me see. He’s operated on my eyes before and he did it again today.' So today, the fringe is an aesthetic choice, not a response to living in half-darkness anyway.
The fringe HAS changed shape (a bit)
If we're getting forensic, Claudia's fringe is slightly shorter than it has at times in the past, and more rounded at the ends instead of straight across. Perhaps she's moved on slightly from when she told us: ‘I prefer it when I can’t see out of it and have to part it like a curtain.’
She can do her own hair – in an emergency
Claudia has long relied on the expertise of celebrity stylist George Northwood, who she calls ‘the best hairdresser in the world’. When his salon was closed during the pandemic, he talked Claudia through a DIY fringe trim in a hilarious YouTube video. ‘I think you’re getting a bit Cousin It, aren’t you?’ he remarked, as he staged an intervention.
The closure of beauty salons was a miserable time; this was the one exception. Enjoy.
She’s sworn by one brand for years
The presenter herself has long attributed her shiny locks to Head & Shoulders, the brand she’s been a long-term ambassador for. ‘Let’s not talk dandruff! Let’s just talk freakishly shiny hair!’ she once said in an interview, marvelling over the ‘squeaky clean’ feel it gives.
‘Anyone reading this can come to my house and eat couscous from my hair, I think they would find that a joy because my scalp is being looked after and is squeaky clean,’ she added. ‘I would like people to come and test it out. If you see me on the Tube just come right up to me and give me a good smell and a lick.’ (!)
She knows how to get glossed
Claudia’s ‘good enough to eat’ effect is, of course, further enhanced by the work of her glam squad. Her long-term hairdresser, Amy Short, has previously broken down the routine she used on Claudia for Strictly Come Dancing, and it’s likely her Traitors regime isn’t too different. (Fellow hair pro Sarah Taylor handles Claudia’s famous ‘do in the Highlands.)
Colour Wow is Amy’s go-to brand when it comes to creating Claudia’s signature sheen. She revealed to The Independent that her must-haves for Ms Winkleman are the One Minute Transformation Cream, which instantly smooths and de-frizzes strands, and Dream Coat Spray, an anti-humidity spray that locks in moisture for sleek, shiny hair.
A quick scroll on Amy’s Instagram also reveals that the Colour Wow Pop & Lock serum is another firm favourite in her Claudia kit. Clearly, great minds think alike — our Good Housekeeping Institute testers also named it the best hair gloss for smoothing frizz. One panel member noted that it sailed through the weather test, making it handy for a dreaded Arctic blast.
She's ready to turn up the heat
And not just for the round table. Heat styling is another key to Claudia’s gleamy finish, says Amy. She revealed that while Claudia ‘has naturally great hair,’ it takes work to achieve the pin-straight look we know her for.
To achieve those super-sleek strands, she runs ghd’s Platinum+ straightener through Claudia’s hair in small sections. It’s another GHI favourite, winning the title of best hair straighteners for shine from our testers.
ghd Platinum+ Styler in Black
She mixes up her hair looks
Yes, really. Claudia is known to mix up her look by adding in a sheeny bend – a twist we saw a few times during the last civilian series of The Traitors.
When she was doing this look on Claudia for Strictly, Amy used a different technique with the same ghd straighteners. ‘We put a slight wave in by using small sections, running the straightener over the hair to warm it up and then rocking it back and forth while gliding down the hair – and keeping the ends straight,’ she shared.
As if that hair wasn’t quite glossy enough, Amy revealed she sprays on Davines shimmering mist for that final polish.
She has a colour to dye for
Finally, there’s that rich, ultra-dark colour to help ramp up the shine. Her colourist, Cydney Deathridge at Nicola Clarke salon, told The Mail that Claudia has ‘little bleach damage, unusual in my older clients, and is lucky to have very few greys, so we can use a semi-permanent dye rather than a permanent one, which makes maintaining condition easier.’
She reveals that Claudia gets a root touch-up every four to six weeks with Wella Professionals Color Touch Demi Permanent hair colour, combined with Olaplex No1 (for strength) and No2 (for shine). If there's any hint of unwanted tones, 'I'll apply a toner, Redken Shades EQ in cool and blue-ish hues to kill off any warmth' she added.
So there you have all the secrets of Claudia's shiny hair: brassiness, dullness and frizz, all banished as mercilessly as a Round Table pile-on.
