Six times Claudia Winkleman was totally unrecognisable without make-up and tan
The Strictly Come Dancing host is rarely seen without her trademark look.
Strictly Come Dancing star Claudia Winkleman is known for three things – her iconic fringe, her bold eyeliner and her fake tan. They’ve quickly become her trademark, making her instantly recognisable to the public whenever she pops up on screen – and making it easier for her to go out in public in the ‘disguise’ of her everyday appearance.
Some fans have suggested her whole persona is an “act”, with one Reddit user musing: “There’s definitely a huge element of it that involves leaning into a specific ‘look’ when she’s performing that makes it easier to separate public and private life. Panda eyes, spray tan and fringe is her brand, but it’s also a sort of uniform that she wears for work.”
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But there have been a few occasions over the years where Claudia appears unrecognisable without her armour.
In 2025, she went make-up free – ditching her eyeliner – to undergo an operation on her eyes.
Praising her doctor on Instagram, she wrote at the time: “This amazing human makes me see. He’s operated on my eyes before and he did it again today. No eyeliner for weeks and I sleep in goggles (no words) but I’m eternally grateful.
“Do NOT zoom in on my left eye – it’s wonky. Thank you Julian. I paid for the treatment, this isn’t an ad. I just love him. It’s very possible I’m still a bit sedated. Night night.”
On another occasion, Claudia was seen bare-faced during an interview with the now sacked Radio 2 host Scott Mills, promoting The Traitors.
Claudia did an impression of a horse, and there was no dark eyeliner in sight as she chatted away.
A throwback clip from 1996 showed Claudia without her famous fringe – and she looked totally different. Instead of her dark brunette tresses, the chat show host had lighter brown hair, swept off her face to show off her rarely-seen forehead.
In the early 2000s she swapped the look out for streaky blonde highlights, and was spotted in 2005 with mousy hair streaked with blonde.
A 2007 photo, meanwhile, showed Claudia ahead of the times – sporting curtain bangs before they were popular and showing off a triangle of her bare forehead, all without her signature tan.
Claudia didn’t have her fringe in university, either. She attended Murray Edwards College at Cambridge, and in a snap taken when she was only 18, she wore brunette curls all the way down to her waist, complete with a side parting and her hair swept away from her face.
