Soap Stars’ New Looks That Made Us Look Twice [PHOTOS]

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Thorsten Kaye

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The Bold & Beautiful actor went wild and woolly during Ridge’s time off the canvas in 2023. Apparently, the feds wouldn’t let him visit the barber while they were working together to take down Sheila.
Tabyana Ali

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In August of 2022, the General Hospital ingenue traded Trina’s trademark braids for straightened hair that framed an expression that was at once lovely and concerned.
Arianne Zucker

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Sometimes a new look can symbolize a fresh start — and heaven knows Days of Our Lives drama magnet Nicole has needed a few of those!
Wally Kurth

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It would be wrong of us to admit that we kinda-sorta miss the mullet that the dimpled actor sported in the early years of his run as Days of Our Lives’ Justin, right? Glad we asked. We wouldn’t have wanted to accidentally type that out loud.
Rebecca Herbst

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You could probably date these images of the General Hospital star by the long and the short of her hairstyles as Elizabeth. But the one thing you couldn’t date? The actress herself. Her beauty, radiated as it is from within, is timeless.
Diamond White

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Color us intrigued by the way the glamtastic chameleon who plays Paris on The Bold and the Beautiful always seems to have a different answer to the question of “Hue do you think you are?”
Diamond White, Part 2

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Plot twist! While Bold & Beautiful was all about Steffy’s shooting in the spring of 2022, Paris’ portrayer scored a direct hit with braided extensions that went on for so long, we couldn’t fit them in one photo!
Annika Noelle

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Well-played, Bold & Beautiful. In the fall of 2021, the show gave Hope sleek bangs, which — if they grew even a smidgen — the character could use as an excuse for not being able to see through dad Deacon and his latest round of How Much Trouble Can One Guy Make.
Annika Noelle, Part 2

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New boo, new ’do! As Bold & Beautiful moved Hope on to Thomas from Liam, she didn’t so much wash that man right outta her hair as cut him out. The results? Stunning!
Kirsten Storms

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Do blondes really have more fun? Maxie was about to find out after a trip to the salon left the General Hospital heroine experiencing the most stylish of “brown-outs.”
Mishael Morgan

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When the fan favorite returned to The Young and the Restless after Hilary’s demise, she was given bangs to distinguish her old character from her new one, Amanda. But after a while, everybody kinda seemed to decide, “Eh, they’re twins; so what if they look exactly alike.”
Matthew Atkinson

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Whether The Bold and the Beautiful has Thomas sporting a goatee and longish hair or a baby face and close cut, shirts are optional. And thankfully, the character rarely exercises that option.
Christel Khalil

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In the spring of 2023, Young & Restless gave Lily a new look that made it all the easier to wash that man (Billy) right outta her hair — and make room for a new one (Daniel).
Scott Clifton

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Aw, they grow up so fast. Just look at the well-coiffed leading man that Bold & Beautiful’s Liam grew into after he bid adieu to not only General Hospital but Dillon’s adorably untamed head of hair.
Scott Clifton, Part 2

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In the fall of 2021, the Emmy winner generated a whole new kind of “buzz” with his close-cut new ’do.
Sal Stowers

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Days of Our Lives’ Lani not only ushered into the world twins — who were, per Salem rules, immediately kidnapped — she reverted to the former look that unbraided her hair and framed her portrayer’s face in a beautifully soft way.
Maurice Benard

Image Credit: ABC screenshot (2)

When the Emmy winner who plays Sonny on General Hospital altered his appearance, it was for storyline reasons. Amnesia not only caused “Mike” to forget who he was, it stripped him of any interest in a close shave or Grecian Formula.
Sharon Case

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When a 2011 Young & Restless storyline necessitated that Sharon go on the lam and hang out with a veterinarian, her blonde-bombshell portrayer went all in, dyeing her hair auburn and making like Dr. Dolittle.
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood

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Though the Bold & Beautiful dynamo hasn’t altered her image much in all the years that she’s played Steffy, she has lightened up and gone dark now and then — with her hair, that is. (As you can very well see.)
Jacqueline MacInnes Wood, Part 2

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There was also that brief period during which the Emmy winner chopped off her trademark long locks and convinced her hair to become the living embodiment of Ricky Martin’s hit, “She Bangs.”
Maura West

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Much like the only thing you can predict about the Emmy winner’s performances — whether as Carly on As the World Turns, Diane on The Young and the Restless or Ava on General Hospital — is that they will be riveting, the only thing you can predict about her hairdo will be that it will be tres chic.
Bryan Dattilo

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OK, maybe it isn’t so shocking that the Days of Our Lives vet would have mellowed out his spiky ’90s hairdo over the years. He has, after all, grown up before our eyes as bad boy-turned-family man Lucas.
Melissa Claire Egan

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If ever we need a reminder that The Young and the Restless’ Chelsea has a dark side, all we need to do is refer to these images — a glorious memento of the spell during which the schemer applied almost-black magic to even her hair.
Roger Howarth

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There are key cutters who don’t change locks as often as this General Hospital leading man, whose former One Life to Live character Todd went from shaggy to shorn before indulging Franco’s blond ambitions and adopting a ’do that was as serious as Drew, the old pal whose memories he temporarily housed in his head.
Joshua Morrow

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Dimples for days? Check. Million-dollar smile? Check. OK, some things never change. But over the course of his long run as The Young and the Restless’ Nick, Joshua Morrow has altered his look, going sexily scruffy and transforming himself from the boy next door to a man among men. (Yes, along the way, the show also switched Victorias, from Heather Tom to Amelia Heinle.)
Adrienne Frantz

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The Emmy winner didn’t so much “go dark” in 2003 as take on a whole new role. That was the year that Bold & Beautiful minx Amber discovered that she had an identical twin with a very different colorist.
Kassie DePaiva

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We call this pair of images “Long Story Short.” We also call it not the least bit surprising that the actress who plays Days of Our Lives’ vengeful Eve looks as striking with a pixie cut as she does with shoulder-length locks.
Christel Khalil

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The Young & Restless leading lady has always been ready for her closeup, whether Lily has been going straight or wild, or getting brash and sassy. We suspect it helps when one has a face that couldn’t take a bad picture if it tried.
Steve Burton

Image Credit: Jill Johnson/JPI, Ron Tom/ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

At last! Proof positive that the Emmy winner who plays Jason on General Hospital hasn’t always had the same hairstyle. As the photo on the right illustrates so beautifully, it does, occasionally, grow out. #mindblown
Michelle Stafford

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Whether working her trademark long hair or locks that are as short as Phyllis’ fuse, the Young & Restless Emmy winner is always red-hot. Well, technically, kinda strawberry-blonde-hot, but you know what we mean.
Susan Flannery

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As The Bold and the Beautiful progressed, Stephanie more and more dropped the pretense that she was going to tolerate any BS. As she did, her portrayer shed inch after inch of her glorious hair.
William Lipton

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“Cut!” took on a whole new meaning on the set of General Hospital in February 2021. To show his support of stepfather Franco during his cancer battle, Cameron had pal Josslyn take a pair of clippers to to the fantabulous mop top that had always been his calling card.
Linsey Godfrey

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Never let it be said that only Audrey Hepburn can pull off her iconic pixie cut. Not only does the Days of Our Lives leading lady pull it off as Sarah, she pulls it off beautifully. Then again, with cheekbones that enviable, Godfrey could probably even rock a mullet!
Christian Jules LeBlanc

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The Young and the Restless veteran set the Internet ablaze over the summer of 2020 when he revealed that when next we saw Michael Baldwin, his lush brown locks would be gray — and he himself would be epitomizing the term “silver fox.”
Laura Wright

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As far back as her stint as Cassie on Guiding Light, the Emmy winner has been occasionally cutting short her voluminous mane. But even now that she’s playing Carly on General Hospital, it still takes us a minute — sometimes even a hot minute — to adjust.
Matthew Atkinson

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After The Bold and the Beautiful exposed Thomas for the demented rat fink that he is, he supposedly slunk off to do some work on himself. Unfortunately, all we could tell that he’d done was grow out his hair and sprout a sexier-than-we-wanna-admit-it-is beard.
Stacy Haiduk

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Soap fans had seen the actress as a blonde before, as wiggy Patty on The Young and the Restless. But we were more accustomed to her brunette self (as Patty’s alter ego Mary Jane and shrink Emily). As a result, it was a revelation to see her lighten up as Days of Our Lives’ Kristen.
Shemar Moore

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Death becomes him. But then, what doesn’t? After The Young and the Restless’ Malcolm was presumed doomed after a fateful drive over a rickety bridge, his portrayer returned to the soap with a radical new look that really did little to hint at the chip he’d begun affixing to his shoulder.
Heather Tom

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Unlike most soap stars, the Young & Restless and Bold & Beautiful Emmy winner often changes her look, bobbing her hair and growing it out, going blonder than blonde and then dark again. So in a way, her style is a lot like her performances as Victoria in the past and Katie in the present: She always keeps us guessing what she’ll do next.
Kimberly McCullough

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Nobody ever had to tell the General Hospital Emmy winner who played Robin that change was good. Length… color… cut… the hairdo- and redoer switched it all up over the years, as she took her beloved character from the cutest kid in daytime to a heroine for the ages.
Jacob Young

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Now that’s commitment. Despite the quality and quantity of amazing blond hair that the Emmy winner had always rocked, he shaved his insanely well-shaped head to accurately play out JR’s cancer battle on All My Children.
Jen Lilley

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Soap viewers accustomed to seeing the actress fill in for Kirsten Storms as General Hospital fashionista Maxie were stunned to discover what a brunette bombshell she was after she joined Days of Our Lives as Theresa.
Eileen Davidson

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Usually, it’s the director on a soap set who yells, “Cut!” So fans of The Young and the Restless were taken aback when Ashley’s portrayer did so, shedding what looked to be what? Pounds and pounds of luxurious blonde tresses.
Kristian Alfonso

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Nothing short of a paper bag could detract from the magnificence of the Days of Our Lives alum’s fancy face. Nevertheless, we were all like, “Wait, what, whoa!” when Hope’s portrayer bobbed her legendarily long locks.
Tracey E. Bregman

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Over the decades, the Young & Restless Emmy winner has gone from strawberry-blonde to pretty-darn-blonde to red-hot with her hair. Yet nothing prepared us for the instance in which Lauren’s portrayer chopped off the tresses that had for so long framed her face. She was still gorgeous, of course. But c’mon!
Drake Hogestyn

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The Young & Restless’ Christian Jules LeBlanc got all the credit for going au naturel with his hair color, but hello?!? The Days of Our Lives leading man who plays John distinguished between black (well, brown) and white well before him.
Brytni Sarpy

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The Young and the Restless’ Elena lost more than a boyfriend when Devon showed her the door to his penthouse; shortly after, she also lost several inches off her hair, resulting in a mod pixie cut that was never short of enchanting.
Peter Reckell

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There’s literally nothing you could do to Days of Our Lives’ former Bo Brady that would make him any less handsome. But we can’t deny that we were always a little taken aback anytime he shaved off his character’s trademark scruff.
Hunter Tylo

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Though when the soap-hopper began her daytime career (as Robin on All My Children), she’d done so as a blonde, she’d been a brunette for so many years that we thought we were meeting a long-lost Logan sister when she returned to The Bold and the Beautiful in 2018 as a suddenly blonde Taylor Forrester.
Dominic Zamprogna

Image Credit: ABC screenshot, Jill Johnson/JPI, ABC

When the going gets tough, the tough get… scruffy? So it seemed on General Hospital when Dante returned to Port Charles saying, in essence, “Now beard this!” (right). Later, though, after a lifetime of metaphorical close shaves, Sonny’s firstborn got one for real (left).
Melody Thomas Scott

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“Wait, did Elizabeth Taylor suddenly start playing Nikki Newman on The Young and the Restless?” We couldn’t help but ask when, a decade ago, her portrayer briefly darkened the golden locks that had made her one of television’s most legendary blonde bombshells.
Katherine Kelly Lang

Image Credit: CBS/Courtesy of the Everett Collection

For years, The Bold and the Beautiful had portrayed Brooke Logan as the quintessential California girl, with her long golden locks serving as a sun-kissed frame for her lovely face, when she yelled, “Cut… them off!” and adopted a tres-chic short ’do.
Kin Shriner

Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)

OK, after all these years, it’s not so much of a jaw-dropper anymore when General Hospital lets Scotty Baldwin shake up his look by modifying his amount of scruff. But you’ve gotta admit it changes his appearance as much as having, say, Heather Webber on his arm instead of Lucy Coe.
Don Diamont

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When the actor left behind his The Young and the Restless role of Brad Carlton, he also left behind the gardener-turned-exec’s clean-shaven look. When he was subsequently introduced to the canvas of The Bold and the Beautiful, he sported the devilish goatee that’s since become Dollar Bill Spencer’s calling card.
Melissa Claire Egan

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As if to signal the new beginning that Young & Restless was giving Chelsea after her very-bad, no-good, terrible 2022, her portrayer had a fresh look smoothed out at the salon just in time for February sweeps 2023. Bangin’, wouldn’t you say?
Linsey Godfrey

Image Credit: John Paschal/JPI, Howard Wise/JPI, NBC

Consider this soap-hopper a gorgeous chameleon. During her run as Caroline Forrester on The Bold and the Beautiful, she went from long to short tresses, and shortly before joining Days of Our Lives as Sarah Horton, she went dark. In her hair color, that is; Sarah’s a dyed-in-the-wool good girl.
Anthony Geary

Image Credit: ABC/Courtesy of the Everett Collection (2)

When General Hospital struck pay dirt with the pairing of Laura Webber and Luke Spencer, his portrayer became almost as closely associated with his iconic, frizzy hairdo as he was with… well, his leading lady. So we practically needed smelling salts when he took on the new role of Luke’s cousin, Bill Eckert — and gave the character an altogether different ’do. It made sense, of course — they were entirely distinct characters. Still, it took some — er, a lot of — getting used to. Eventually, after Bill was killed off and Luke reintroduced, Geary ditched the perm for good.
Kiara Barnes

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The Bold & Beautiful leading lady made two big changes at once in the spring of 2021, not only leaving her role of Zoe to star in primetime’s Fantasy Island reboot but cutting off her long locks to start rocking a super-stylish pixie cut.
Finola Hughes

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Every new look was a “mane event” for the General Hospital icon, who went from hair so long, it barely fit in one photo, to shorter, lighter locks as Anna’s twin sister Alex on All My Children, and finally, her original character’s no-nonsense style.
Hunter King

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Whether working tresses lush enough to turn Rapunzel green with envy or a shorter ‘do that’s long on stylishness, the Emmy winner who plays Young & Restless’ Summer is always “the most beautiful in the land” in the eyes of on-screen mom Michelle Stafford (Phyllis).
Matthew Ashford

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Given how often Days of Our Lives dropped Jack in “hairy” situations, perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his portrayer looks as handsome with as without a beard.
Karla Mosley

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Doesn’t much matter if the Guiding Light vet (as Christina) is letting loose her crown of curls or going straight with her hair (as in photo No. 2, from her run as Maya on The Bold and the Beautiful); either way, she kept viewers wrapped around her finger.
Wes Ramsey

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Actors have to be chameleons, with the ability to evolve and vanish into any role. Here, the soap-hopping veteran of Guiding Light, Days of Our Lives and General Hospital shows how beautifully he transitioned from boy next door to sun-kissed surfer to smooth operator.
Elizabeth Hendrickson

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Much like Young & Restless’ Chloe can go from sweet to scheming in the blink of an eye, so can her portrayer alter her image, shaking up her look like an especially stylish master of disguise.
Joshua Hoffman

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Aw, kids — they grow up so darn fast. And in the case of Bold & Beautiful influencer R.J., they go from being the squeaky-clean boy next door to edgy man about town in the blink of an eye.
Brook Kerr

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General Hospital may have had Portia marching toward disaster as she marched down the aisle in early 2023, but at least her portrayer’s sleek new look ensured that she’d make a radiant, if troubled, bride.
Krista Allen

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It was with mixed emotions that we tuned in to the February 2022 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful in which the new Taylor was finally able to ditch the wig that she, we, everybody had had such a good time laughing over. On one hand, we’d miss the chuckles. On the other, c’mon! Au naturel was a definite, major improvement.
Rory Gibson

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What’s the difference? Dreamy in the “after” photo on the left, dreamy in the “before” photo on the right. Oh, riiight. Young & Restless gave Noah’s hair an edgy remix to start 2023.
Jeff Kober

Image Credit: ABC/Getty Images, ABC screenshot

General Hospital may never let Cyrus go all-the-way clean, but in the summer of 2023, the show did at least have him go clean… shaven — with a smart new haircut to boot.