Chris Appleton

Christopher David Appleton was born on 14 June 1983 in Leicester, England, the third of five children born to Jane (née Twigger) and David Appleton. Appleton would style his mother's hair as a child, which ignited his interest in working as a hairstylist.

Appleton began working at a hair salon in his hometown as a teenager in 1996, regularly commuting to London during his time off, where he would assist artists on set, take classes and subsequently earnt a hair colour degree. His first celebrity client was singer Rita Ora, whom after their first appointment, booked Appleton for numerous campaigns, red carpet events and her tour. He went on to amass a number of celebrity clientele including Kim Kardashian and other members of the Kardashian family, which has seen him make several appearances on their reality series The Kardashians, as well as Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Sofía Vergara, Katy Perry and Ariana Grande, conceptualising the latter's iconic "ponytail" hairdo. He has also made several appearances on The Drew Barrymore Show and Today.

In January 2026, Appleton released his debut memoir, Your Roots Don't Define You, the foreword of which was written by Kris Jenner and subsequently appeared in The New York Times Best Seller list. In June 2026, Appleton was announced as a contestant on the twenty-fourth series of the BBC competition Strictly Come Dancing. On joining the show, Appleton said he was "thrilled to be joining [the show] and coming home to the UK for this incredible experience." adding that he "always believed that the best things happen when you take a chance and try something new. I may know my way around a salon floor, but the dance floor is a whole different story, and I can’t wait to get started."

Appleton was in a relationship with Katie Katon, whom he met as a teenager, for nine years, and they had two children together, a son, Billy born in 2002, and a daughter, Kitty-Blu born in 2004. Appleton later came out as gay in his twenties. Between 2023 and 2024, Appleton was married to actor Lukas Gage. Their marriage was filmed for an episode of The Kardashians. Appleton is dyslexic.