A Bristol hairdresser has revealed what it was like to work backstage on The X-Factor: Celebrity.
Sam Bell, owner of Hair at 58 on Cotham Hill, spent 14 hours rubbing shoulders with celebs in London last Saturday (October 26) ahead of the first live show of this series.
She told Bristol Live: “It was brilliant - it was much less stressful than I thought.”
Miss Bell got involved with the first live show in the series after responding to an Instagram post by hair guru Adam Reed, who was searching for guest hairdressers.
Miss Bell was driven to the television studios for 8.30am on Saturday and quickly found her rhythm.
“Working with celebrities is quite different - you don’t know what to expect,” she said.
“But they were all really, really helpful and really grateful and they enjoyed their time with us.”
Miss Bell worked closely alongside the show’s regular hairdressers as they collectively crafted the locks of the celebrities, one at a time.
“It was nice being backstage, being part of the buzz and helping the dancers with their headdresses,” said Miss Bell, who did not finish until 10.30pm.
“It was quite an eye-opener being backstage compared to what you see on TV. The team effort that goes into creating such a magnificent show [was brilliant].”
Although she saw Simon Cowell and his fellow judges throughout the day, Miss Bell did not work on their hair at all, but she was nevertheless left quite starstruck by proceedings, explaining “it hasn’t really sunk in yet”.
Among the contestants this series are Hayley Hasselhoff, Martin Bashir, Megan McKenna and Jonny Labey.
Asked how the experience of working on the show ranked among other highlights during her career, Miss Bell described it as “well up there”.
“To have the opportunity given to me to do that was just mind-blowing,” she said, adding that she enjoyed it so much that she put her name down to be a standby for future shows.
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