Getty ImagesSave this storySave this story
Emma Roberts is kicking off 2026 with a new hair color… or is she?
The whole “new year, new me” thing is admittedly overdone, but there is something so inspiring and fresh about the start of a brand new year. It almost makes you want to, well, dye your hair! And in Roberts's case, that meant going back to her roots and swapping her 2025 red in favor of a bright and buttery blonde—a.k.a. her go-to hue.
Roberts began 2025 by ditching the blonde in favor of a bold copper red that she called “sunrise red,” and wore the shade all year long. But as 2026 began, so too did the blonde cravings. So she called up colorist Nikki Lee, who brought out the bleach to restore Roberts to her signature shade.
Going from red to blonde is a journey, and Roberts documented it in a video showing off the entire process, which took nine hours from start to finish. There was bleaching. There was shampooing. There was foiling. And the end result was a cheerful golden blonde with a bit of added length for even more impact. “While her red era was stunning and worn for nearly a year, this transition back to blonde marked a return to the shade where Emma feels most like herself,” Lee shared.
Instagram content
Fans wasted zero time hopping into Roberts's comments and referencing some of her most beloved onscreen characters, who just so happen to be blonde: Scream Queens queen bee Chanel Oberlin and American Horror Story: Coven's Hollywood starlet-slash-witch Madison Montgomery. Roberts is set to return for AHS 13, and while we we're still waiting for more plot details regarding the much-anticipated season, some fans think the blonde means there's more to Madison Montgomery's story. (Her last appearance was in 2018's Apocalypse.) Whether she's prepping to step back into Madison's black stiletto heels or just needed a change timed to the new year, it's clear that Roberts is living her best blonde life once more.
