Ariana Grande: Going brunette is not about saying goodbye to Glinda

Ariana Grande has said her new darker hair is not about saying goodbye to her Wicked character Glinda, but rather a way of “doing something different”.

The singer and actress, 32, has recently swapped her signature, Glinda-era blonde locks with a brunette tone, sending fans wild on social media.

It comes as she resumes her role as the Good Witch of the North alongside Cynthia Erivo, who returns as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in Wicked: For Good.

On Monday night, London’s Leicester Square was transformed into the magical Land of Oz, with Wicked-inspired shades of pink and green and a sprawling yellow brick road running through the middle.

The sequel has a romantic plotline, which could lead some to wonder whether Bailey was channelling his inner Anthony (his Bridgerton character).

“I’m sure I’m mining something that’s in my bones somewhere,” he says.

As a sidebar, I also had to ask him whether would ever do Celebrity Traitors.

“The answer is, we’ll have to find out,” he said, pausing dramatically before laughing. “I feel like I’m already exposing my game play.”

When Grande unveiled her new look on Instagram recently, many fans speculated that it was a way for her to bid farewell to her Good Witch character.

But when asked about that, she said: “No, I think it was just a way of doing something different for the second movie, and playing into the darker tones, with clothing and beauty.

“It’s fun,” she said, while Erivo smiled and nodded.

The sequel picks up where the first film left off and covers the years after Elphaba and Glinda's decision to part ways.

Elphaba is now an enemy of the state of Oz, while Glinda has become a public figure controlled by the Wizard.

The films have been adapted from the hugely successful Broadway and West End musical, which itself was based on Gregory Maguire's 1995 novel.

However, the stage musical was split into two films for its big-screen adaptation.

They were shot simultaneously between December 2022 and January 2024, with production interrupted mid-way through by the Hollywood actors' strike.