Celebrity transformations of 2020
Australian and Hollywood stars made some dramatic changes to their looks and lives. This is how some of them switched things up.
Entertainment
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As 2020 forced us all to re-evaluate well, just about everything, some famous faces switched things up during the pandemic. Some lost a few kilograms, many dyed their hair a variety of neon shades. Some grew spectacular beards while others embraced the mullet. Whatever your speed, there certainly was something for everyone.
REBEL WILSON
The Aussie actress started off the year declaring – via Instagram – that 2020 would be her “year of health”. Then the pandemic hit and while the rest of us stayed home and largely stuffed our faces with potato chips, Wilson stuck to her goal, losing 30 kilos by November.
“I was determined in 2020 — the year of health — to actually fully change my whole entire lifestyle,” she explained in an Instagram video. “So it meant not only, like, physically but mentally as well.”
The 40-year-old said the main secret to her weight loss success was walking.
ADELE
The pop superstar has reportedly shed a staggering 45 kilos over the past two years via working out with a personal trainer, undertaking regular juice cleanses, and adjusting her diet.
During an October hosting gig on Saturday Night Live in New York, the star poked fun at the change.
“I know I look really, really different since you last saw me,” the 32-year-old said. “But actually because of all the COVID restrictions and the travel bans, I had to travel light and only bring half of me, and this is the half that I chose.”
Depressingly, she has had to deal with backlash from fans not happy with her new look.
REBECCA GIBNEY
The beloved TV star took to Instagram to let fans know she lost “the muffin top”.
She then preceded to thank a doctor for helping her adjust to a “changing body”, a fitness coach at a Dunedin gym for “not yelling at me” and a second fitness coach for convincing her she could do it in half-an-hour a day.
“I’m 5kgs down and feeling great!” she added. “Yes son Zac I put my middle aged stomach on the Gram — suck it up.”
MANU FEILDEL
The My Kitchen Rules judge showed off his incredible shrinking frame in an Instagram post in August.
The famed chef has reportedly lost 12kg, by changing his diet, ditching alcohol and joining a gym. He also revealed that a new passion for road cycling had helped him shed the pounds.
LEWIS HAMILTON
The Formula One champ revealed he lost six kilos due to the affects of COVID-19.
“I’ve lost 6kg over the past two months, 4 of which I lost when I got COVID,” Hamilton said via Instagram stories. “I’ve lost so much muscle.”
The British driver tested positive for coronavirus the day after his Bahrain Grand Prix victory in late November.
Hamilton returned for the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP, but complained during the event of lacking energy.
ALYSSA MILANO
The former star of Who’s The Boss and Charmed also revealed the after-effects of her bout of coronavirus, telling Dr Oz on US TV in October that along with “stomach issues” and “overwhelming fatigue” she had to deal with hair loss.
“It’s hard, especially when you’re an actor and so much of your identity is wrapped up in those things like having long silky hair and clean skin,” Milano said.
ANGIE KENT
The Bachelorette star has completely transformed her entire look, going from “sitting on my couch in my PJs” on Gogglebox to getting all glammed up as the Bachelorette in 2019.
In fact, Kent has been open about being a “massive fan of injectables and treatments”, reportedly spending $27,000 a year on her beauty regimen.
But if you think Kent’s outlay is extreme, remember Kim Kardashian reportedly spends a jaw-dropping $230,000 per month to look like, well, Kim Kardashian.
MADONNA
Madonna, for whom reinvention is your average Tuesday, joined the pink hair brigade in 2020, also kitting out her eight-year-old twins, Stella and Estere, in brightly coloured wigs. But neon hues aside, lockdown didn’t seem to sit overly well with the pop icon (who also looked as if she’d used the time to “refresh” her face) as she posted occasionally bizarre videos from her New York compound where she’s been working on the script of her life story with Oscar-winning Juno writer, Diablo Cody.
JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT
The actress also went down the popular pink route. In April, Hewitt debuted her new look on Instagram and wrote, “The smile of a girl who just did at home hot pink highlights because what else can I do right now?”
SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR
The actress, otherwise known as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, also dyed her hair pink during lockdown.
“Well, because we’re still in quarantine, I had to think of a new and creative way to embarrass my children,” Gellar said in a video on Instagram.
SARAH HYLAND
In May, the former Modern Family star posted a series of selfies with her new red hair.
“I wanna be where the people are,” she wrote on Instagram, referencing The Little Mermaid.
Hyland also added that she dyed her hair by herself, revealing that she meant to dye her hair pink, and it didn’t exactly go as planned.
KAIA GERBER
The model, whose mum is iconic supermodel Cindy Crawford, also went pink for the pandemic. Gerber, who’s dating rising Aussie star Jacob Elordi, changed things up multiple times during lockdown, embracing highlights, golden and bleached blonde, and a layered mullet.
“I’ve always loved people who just like, do whatever they want with their hair,” Gerber said in an Instagram video.
JOE JONAS
The musician, who became a dad in 2020 after his wife, Game of Thrones star Sophie Turner, gave birth to a daughter, decided to dye his hair every colour under the sun and then shave it all off. In October, the musician debuted a neon pink buzzcut in support of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
ZAC EFRON
The actor, who’s currently calling Byron Bay home, became a true Aussie when he went to an Adelaide barber shop, Atta Boy, and emerged with a classic mullet. The boys at Atta Boy posted the pic to Instagram with a beaming Efron.
DEMI LOVATO
Lovato has had a challenging few years, so it’s no surprise 2020 was a year of reinvention for the pop star.
The 28-year-old singer revealed a daring new look in November when she shaved most of her head and debuted a blonde pixie haircut.
“I did a thing …” she captioned the photos.
IGGY AZALEA
The Australian rapper, who announced she had a son in 2020 with rapper Playboi Carti, had fans in a tizz after she seemingly shaved her hair off down to a buzz cut, dyeing it a bright red.
But it was all a joke when Azalea later revealed it was just a wig.
FIONA O’LOUGHLIN
The comedian, who won I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here in 2018, debuted a stunning new look this year.
O’Loughlin, one of the most recognisable faces in Australian comedy, ditched her long brunette locks in favour of a natural grey, choppy pixie cut, along with a pair of very cool thick-framed glasses.
SHARON OSBOURNE
Osbourne, who has long dyed her hair a bright red, also stopped colouring her locks, letting them go their own natural shade of silver.
“I was just so fed up of going and having it dyed and having it dyed, and I was just like, I can’t do this anymore,” Osbourne told her co-hosts on US talk show, The Talk.
“Why am I trying to do something or be something that I’m not? Just be who you are.”
JACK THOMPSON
The evergreen Aussie legend used quarantine to go the full cave man.
Thompson, who also turned 80 in 2020, told the Today Show in October that he had been growing his hair for a role but when the pandemic hit, he just kept on going.
“The beard is being grown for a movie that was shut down by COVID, but we hope to see it come back,” he said.
“Shoulder-length hair and an unkempt beard it says in the script. I’m still going.”
PETE EVANS
The controversial chef, who was ditched from his lucrative Channel 7 contract in May, moved off grid espousing dangerous conspiracy theories (in July he called COVID-19 a “f***ing hoax) and growing a handlebar moustache, eerily reminiscent of Ivan Milat.
This month, Facebook removed Evans’ official account over repeated breaches.
MATT AGNEW
The usually clean-cut Bachelor favourite surprised his many fans by sporting the full COVID flowing locks look.
The astrophysicist went with the pandemic flow, ditching his preppy look for baseball caps, shorts and sneakers.
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