He’s now landed a new job working on Season 8 of Love Island USA
Carl Bembridge with Ariana Grande at a Beyoncé concert(Image: Carl Bembridge / SWNS)
A Bristol man who was bullied at school fought back to become a hairstylist to stars like Ariana Grande and Nicole Scherzinger.
Carl Bembridge was a “shy” schoolboy and underwent eleven operations for bone condition rickets.
He then began an apprenticeship to become a hairdresser and started posting his work on social media.
It then caught the attention of his first celebrity client – Katie Price.
A decade later, he had his big break after being offered the job of Ariana Grande’s personal hairstylist while she was filming in London for the movie Wicked.
He also completed a press tour in New York with The Pussycat Dolls and his work has appeared on the front cover of Vogue.
Carl with Nicole Scherzinger, filming the Netflix series building the band(Image: Carl Bembridge / SWNS)
Carl has now landed a new job working on Season 8 of Love Island USA, which is based in Fiji, and has an agent in America.
The 35-year-old who now lives in Essex, said: “The thing for me is doing hair for people that I grew up listening to, which is, the most fulfilling and amazing feeling, like Kelly Rowland from Destiny’s Child or Nicole Scherzinger.
“The other week I was in New York with The Pussycat Dolls, and I grew up dancing to their songs. I also did Melanie C’s hair from the Spice Girls, Ariana Grande and all these people that I literally would never even dream of being with.
“These names are something that I always dreamt of, and now I’m living my dream. I worked really hard and people always say, ‘oh, you’re so lucky’ but it definitely wasn’t luck.
“I’m definitely blessed to be given these opportunities and I’ve also worked hard for them.”
Carl grew up on a council estate in Speedwell and always loved playing with his Pocahontas doll, leading to his obsession with long hair.
He loved playing with his sister’s hair until his mum bought him a practice doll’s head.
Carl holding a Pocahontas doll(Image: Carl Bembridge / SWNS)
Carl said he was concerned having rickets and multiple operations to realign his leg bones would affect his career.
He was also worried that the bullying would get worse once people found out he was training to be a hairdresser.
Carl explained: “I ended up doing my work experience from school and I can always remember I was given a hard time in school as all my friends were girls, and I’m gay, so I was teased for that.
“So then when it came to work experience, I knew I wanted to go to a hairdresser’s, but I can always remember being super scared for anyone to find out but I still did it anyway because it was just meant to be.
“Everyone did find out, and I did get teased for it, but it was the best decision I ever made, going with my gut and my heart, and I ended up going to a salon called Cohesion in St. George, Redfield.
“That’s where the magical first door opened because, the team of Cohesion are now my second family and I worked there since I was 15.
“They taught me all my foundations of cutting and colouring and just helped building my confidence.”
At the start of his career, he used tips to pay for transport to London, where he volunteered on shoots for small magazines.
Using Instagram to showcase his work, he got contacted by Katie Price’s friends to do her hair 10 years ago.
He said: “I got recommended to from one of her friends, and then they said, ‘can you do her hair?’ and I drove five hours to Lincoln to do her hair and then I came back and though ‘oh my god I’m a celebrity hairstylist’ and little did I know that it was just the beginning.”
Carl with Maura Higgins on the set of a magazine cover shoot(Image: Carl Bembridge / SWNS)
Since then he has had the pleasure to do Ariana Grande’s hair, saying that the experience was “surreal”.
He explained: “Ariana was coming here to film the movie Wicked and she just needed a hairstylist for while she was in London.
“Her team said that they loved my work and my energy, and I got chosen, which was super surreal, obviously, because she could have anyone in the world she wanted.
“I mean, who’s not a fan of her? She’s an icon and a super talented woman – another person I grew up listening to.
“I was so proud of myself that I knew that I’d been working hard and to get such a talented, well-known person, ended up being a client of mine was such an amazing feeling.”
Working with all these A-list celebrities has been a “blessing” for Carl who says that all the people he has worked with have been “just lovely”.
He said: “It’s nice to be around super talented people, super creative.
“They say don’t meet your idols and all the people that I’ve met have just been beautiful people – I’ve loved it.”
Carl Bembridge(Image: Carl Bembridge / SWNS)
Carl also styled Nicole Scherzinger’s hair for the front cover of Vogue Greece.
He added: “When I first got to do Nicole’s hair I was over the moon, but then to do my first Vogue cover – I think the imposter syndrome in me kept thinking that something’s going to happen.
“Your first Vogue Cover is always just your Vogue Cover, so I’ve made sure that I’ve got a few on standby.”
He has now landed a new job working on Season 8 of Love Island USA, which is based in Fiji, and has an agent in America.
But despite his life surrounded by big celebrities, Carl says he often misses home and after a long trip he always returns to Bristol.
“I do miss the little things about home, but it’s just so exciting to be able to go travelling,” he said.
“This year I’ve been to LA, I’ve been to New York, Cannes Film Festival and I just love the idea of dotting around different places, and then when I need a little bit of a break I’ll come back to Bristol.
“I will stay with my family, have a little reset and just ground myself with the Bristol home.”
To check Carl’s Instagram visit the link here: https://www.instagram.com/carlbembridgehair/
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.bristolpost.co.uk ’
