12 Celebs You Didn’t Know Secretly Have Gray Hair

Find out which stars have been hiding their grays…

Jennifer Lopez’s hair may always look red carpet ready, but she says she actually went gray when she was in her early 20s. Since then, she’s chosen to dye her hair to cover the gray and get it touched up every few weeks.

“I was prematurely gray at 23. I have to have [my roots] touched up every couple of weeks,” she told People in 2011. “I’m kind of tempted to one day just let it go. It’d be kind of exciting! Maybe someday we’ll go really far away for like two months and I’m just going to see what it looks like.”

Tracee Ellis Ross has had a long journey of acceptance with her hair, explaining that when she was young, she shied away from letting her curls shine. As an adult, she finally learned to care for her locks and began to embrace her natural hair fully — but admits that once she started going gray, she decided to dye it.

“My hair is now turning gray (evidence of my life and my years). And while the gray has changed my texture and the dye I use to cover it has loosened my pattern, I finally know my hair inside and out,” she wrote on Instagram in 2020.

She continued, “And while I’m not ready to embrace the gray just yet, I’m sure that will be exciting when I do! I’ve always said that my journey to self acceptance can be chronicled through my journey with my hair. Taking the time to accept, understand and love my hair mirrors the relationship I have with myself. I have grown to love and appreciate my hair in all of its seasons.”

Cindy Crawford has been dying her hair for so long, she admits she doesn’t know what color it is anymore. She began enhancing her brunette locks when she started noticing grays and prefers to keep her hair free of gray strands.

“Oh my gosh, I have no idea what my actual color of my hair would be now because I have it colored,” she once told People. “I don’t want to see [gray hairs] so I color my hair. But I try to color my hair so that it looks natural.”

As a spokesperson for L’Oréal, Eva Longoria’s hair always looks flawless. But during the early days of the pandemic, she revealed that she had gone gray and had been covering it up. In a video for L’Oréal, she shared that since she couldn’t go to the salon, she had to take care of her grays at home.

“I’ll be honest. For a second I thought, ‘Okay, grays, I’m ready to see you. I can handle this.’ But I’m not. I’m not ready. I am not ready for this much gray,” Eva shared in the video.

​​Real Housewives star Kyle Richards also opened up about her gray hair during the pandemic, sharing that she went gray when she was just 25. Since then, she’s been dying her hair at home — and continued to do so since no one could get to a salon at the time.

“I inherited getting gray hair early,” she shared on Instagram. “My dad was completely gray by the time he was 40. I started getting gray hairs when I was 25, probably because I worry so much. And I do it myself quite often.”

In an interview with Page Six, she added, “I grew up watching my mom color her own hair. So for me, it’s normal. Plus it’s easy and saves me time — and money.”

Shay Mitchell says she started noticing her gray hair in her early 30s, but didn’t see it as a big deal since it could always be covered up. At the time, Shay admitted she was just trying to pull them out — but has seemingly started dying her hair since then.

“I call them like wisdom hairs. Like more wisdom, great. You can’t freak out about it. I am getting older. I am happy. You know what that means? I have more experiences,” she told People. “It’s made me even more old to who I was yesterday like cool. I don’t ever really freak out about them. Plus, if you don’t like it, then dye your hair, no problem.”

Naomie Harris had a sudden onset of gray hair after a traumatic accident. Looking back, she explained that she woke up the day after her car crash and noticed that some of her hair had changed. Naomie says that to her, it’s “incredibly annoying” so she always covers up her gray hairs.

“I actually had a car accident and when I woke up the next day I had loads of gray hair which I didn’t have before,” she told People. “I hate it, I keep plucking them out, dying them, I hate them.”

When Jaimie Alexander first started noticing her gray hair, she thought it wasn’t a big deal. In fact, she thought it might actually be a good look for her — but her friends seemingly disagreed. Since then, Jaimie has started dying her hair to cover up the gray.

“I started getting some gray hair. I was like, ‘sweet check it out’ and everyone is like, ‘why are you pointing that out?’ They were teasing me that more were going to come back and I was like, ‘I think I would look pretty boss with gray hair. Why not?’” she shared with People.

Cher is willing to try almost any beauty trend — except for letting her hair go gray. While many other celebrities were letting their natural hair shine during the pandemic, Cher said she wasn’t letting her jet black locks go. Instead, she’ll keep dying it for as long as possible.

“[Going gray] is fine for other girls. I’m just not doing it!” she told People in 2022.

Kelly Ripa is following in Cher’s footsteps and keeping her gray locks covered up. While she attempted to privately embrace her natural hair during the pandemic, she believes she’s just someone who doesn’t look good with gray hair.

“Cher was saying that gray hair is not for her. She is not caving in, she doesn’t care about the trend — you know, people are embracing their gray hair all over the place. Everybody’s embracing their gray hair,” she said on Live with Kelly and Ryan! in 2022.

She continued, “I need to dye my hair. I think certain people look great with their gray hair. I think it depends on the person. I really do.”

Drew Barrymore isn’t ready to go gray just yet and admits she’s been coloring her hair at home for years. In 2024, she even launched her own hair shade with Nutrisse so others could achieve the same shade as her honey blonde locks.

“I do love that it’s trending and looks so beautiful and is like a fashion statement. But I just don’t feel ready to go down that road,” she told People. “I’m only 48 so it’s not completely gray, but I definitely have lot of gray hairs. But I can also keep dyeing it. I don’t really care if I look like a Just For Men ad when I’m older.”

Charlize Theron may be known for her platinum blonde locks, but she says her hair started changing colors a long time ago. Since she went gray prematurely, she began dying it blonde to keep it covered up.

“I’m very gray,” she told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.