Celebrity Chefs Who Totally Changed Their Look

If variety is the spice of life, these celebrity chefs are zesting it up in and out of the kitchen. At the end of the day, celebrity chefs are brand ambassadors unto themselves, and staying relevant means being recognizable. For many famous chefs (especially those who do a lot of T.V.), being memorable in the media involves specializing in a specific cuisine, maybe having a catchphrase or two, and embracing a sense of personal style. In the case of these celebrity chefs, that personal style is something that has been subject to change.

To the culinary mavens who stick to chef whites and keep it au naturel so the focus stays on the food, we salute you — but that's not what we're here to discuss. We are delving into the celebrity chefs who took a bolder route and totally changed up their look. We're also exploring why these chefs made the decision to switch things up — because there's always a reason.

Did they get bit by the fashion bug? Opt for a post-fame makeover? Change their lifestyle? Some of these chefs changed their look gradually over time, while others took a more drastic or immediate approach. Are some of your favorite celebrity chefs on the list? Keep reading to find out.

In case you haven't noticed, "Top Chef" alum and television host Richard Blais had a major glow-up. When he first appeared on "Top Chef", Blais was an even-tempered — dare we say demure — chef who loved molecular gastronomy and had a faux hawk. And hey, it was the mid-2000s, so Blais and anyone else who favored a crispy-gelled faux hawk back then gets a pass. In modern times, Blais' hair has traveled to pretty fantastic heights.

Blais showed off an aggressively coiffed pompadour as a guest judge on the "Top Chef" Season 18 premiere, which got a chuckle from Padma Lakshmi and inspired comparisons to Johnny Bravo and "Rock-A-Doodle" on Reddit. His post-COVID hairstyle is still tall, but is styled a little more conventionally and usually paired with a short-trimmed beard. Blais also makes frequent public appearances wearing glasses, and doesn't shy away from sporting colorful plastic frames.

One of the most notable aspects of Blais' changed look is his trim physique, something he said was years in the making. As an up-and-coming chef in the early 2000s, long work hours and late nights saw Blais put on some extra weight. When he met his now-wife Jazmin in 2004, he learned that she had been a personal trainer. This helped Blais stay motivated with working out and he was able to shed 60 pounds. Nowadays, the chef keeps fit by piling on the veggies and long-distance running.

Sweet Southern grandma was Paula Deen's image when she catapulted to fame on Food Network with her 2002 show "Paula's Home Cooking". She was known for her unapologetic love of Southern-style comfort foods that were high in fat. At times, Deen's decadent recipes were a little over-the-top, but she came across as being comfortable with her fuller figure.

After being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in 2009, Deen cut back her calorie intake and went on medication. She shed around 40 pounds prior to stepping away from the spotlight in the wake of her infamous racial discrimination scandal in 2013. In recent years, as Deen has worked to rebuild her reputation, she became noticeably thinner and switched up her style. Deen regularly posts cooking videos on her social media accounts, and the comments about her change in appearance is decidedly mixed.

Deen is typically made up in her social media posts, prompting commenters to compliment her youthful glow. She often pulls her hair back and wears oversized glasses — a departure from her yesteryear TV chef look. In 2024, Deen posted a cooking demo on TikTok that showed her less made up and more casually dressed than usual ... and the comments section came for her. Numerous users barbed at how poorly she is aging, while others came to her defense, pointing out that Deen is 77 years old.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi is bringing fashion to the table, and as the kids say, he eats. The talented chef has brought a vibrant punch-up of individuality to his wardrobe, and approaches cooking with the same vivacity. Onwuachi's entrance into the TV realm was as a competitor on "Top Chef" Season 13. That was in 2015, when 26-year-old Onwuachi was more clean cut and still had a bit of a baby face.

After a solid run in his season, Onwuachi started making moves in the professional world. He opened his own restaurants, wrote his memoir, and won a James Beard Award (he's also hosted the awards ceremony twice). When Onwuachi appeared as a recurring guest judge on Season 18 of "Top Chef" in 2020, his ensembles were noticeably edgier — in a good way.

Coordinating separates in abstract prints, stylish thin-framed glasses, mutton chop-esque facial hair, and black nail polish were Onwuachi's go-to fashion choices on the judging panel. When asked about how his look had evolved, Onwuachi explained that being confined to a chef's uniform for so long made him want to embrace his flashier side. One new admirer of Onwuachi's elevated style was nail polish company Orly, who tapped the chef to design a limited-edition collection of nail polishes for its Breathable formula in 2022.

Cooking competition judge and acclaimed chef Graham Elliot transformed more than just his look — he changed his whole lifestyle. Elliot says that his weight has been a lifelong struggle and caused him health problems like high blood pressure and sleep apnea. In 2013, Elliot weighed almost 400 pounds and decided to have gastric sleeve surgery to facilitate weight loss. In less than a year, Elliot dropped 150 pounds. 

Elliot showed up to judge Season 5 of "MasterChef" looking almost unrecognizable — except for his trusty white-framed glasses of course. Elliot said that losing the weight made it easier to play with his kids, and he no longer had to rely on a sleep apnea mask for a good night's rest. To keep the weight off, Elliot swapped his favorite junk foods like cookies and candy with more health-minded snack foods like nuts, dried fruit, and seaweed. Anyone who has battled a weight problem knows that there is no quick fix, it's a change that comes from reevaluating one's psychological relationship with food. Elliot's weight has fluctuated in the decade-plus since his weight loss surgery, but he continues to do the work to maintain a healthier weight.

Back when Gordon Ramsay was hunkered down in the kitchen chasing Michelin Stars, he didn't have time for a spa treatment — and would probably have been offended by the mere suggestion of it. A few decades and 17 Michelin stars later, Ramsay walks into the medical spa without qualms, or at least that's what the softened lines on his face seem to indicate.

We give the chef credit, not a lot of celebrities — let alone those with a rough and tumble persona like Ramsay's — can even admit they've had a little work done. Ramsay does. In 2009, he opened up about having a cosmetic procedure done to correct what he called "smile lines" on either side of his chin. He said the lines appeared less noticeable after some gel was put under the skin with a needle. He added that it was pal Simon Cowell who persuaded him to go through with the beauty treatment.

Any further maintenance of injectables, laser treatments, and the like has been tasteful. The 57-year-old didn't eliminate every scar or wrinkle from his face, so he still looks like himself. It has been speculated that Ramsay also had his teeth fixed and got a hair transplant, about which Ramsay made no comment — his transparency has limits.

Back in the "Bizarre Foods" days, Andrew Zimmern's actions may have said "adventure man" but his look was more "literature professor". Zimmern totally owned the full-figured bald dude with tiny circular spectacles vibe, and we were totally on board. Yet, when he changed his look circa the COVID-19 era, we got to see some funkier sartorial choices from the former Travel Channel host.

Any guy who flirted with the idea of growing a beard but never pulled the trigger got the instinctual push when COVID-19 hit, and perhaps Zimmern was among this group. His bushy beard and larger, oft tinted glasses lean more into Zimmern's classic rock-era upbringing than the more buttoned-up look he donned on TV, yet it works. The food documentarian brings an ease to the colorful outfits and versatile headwear that mark his style switch. It does not appear that Zimmern is dressing for anyone else's enjoyment but his own.

Zimmern also appears to have lost a few pounds. He hasn't been publicly touting any diet tricks, yet Zimmern, as always, has been transparent about the connection between people and food. In 2022, he became an advisor to Next Gen Foods' chicken substitute brand Tindle, and has spoken about the personal and ecological benefits to a plant-based diet.

One's outside appearance can often be a telltale sign of what's happening inward, and this is likely true of Australian chef Pete Evans and his scraggly hawklet hairdo. After embarking on a tireless anti-vax crusade that got him banned from various social media platforms for spreading COVID-19 misinformation and tanked his television career, Evans' looks have changed a lot.

He was once a familiar face on Australian TV as the co-host of "My Kitchen Rules" in 2010. The show was a huge hit and Evans became known as a well-dressed, pretty boy type of chef. His co-hosting duties on Emmy-nominated "Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking", on PBS introduced him to American audiences and showed more of his rugged side, but this was nothing compared for what was to come.

As Evans' penchant toward conspiracy theories and other fringe beliefs took over his life, he became an unkempt shadow of his former self. Until September 2023, the controversial chef was running a health retreat in the Australian foothills, where his scruffy, wild appearance seemed (almost) appropriate.

First things first, Lazarus Lynch has always been fabulous. He came on the scene in the late 2010s, as a fresh-faced competitor on Food Network's "Chopped" (which he won twice). Lynch was just out of college when he competed on "Chopped", and it led to several more Food Network appearances. When he began hosting the network's digital series "Comfort Nation" a couple of years later, his updated style choices were more expressive, fun, and stylish.

Bright color, statement accessories, the chicest threads, and a cool makeup look are all part of Lynch's dress code these days (his 2021 Met Gala look was a feast for the eyes). The multi-hyphenate (recording artist and social worker are on his résumé), released his first cookbook in 2019, "Son of a Southern Chef: Cook with Soul". The book brims with Lynch's splashy, fashion-forward photos, affirmations of self-love, and many of his late father's classic soul food recipes. Like his killer style, "Son of a Southern Chef" is unique, full of life, and unequivocally Lynch.

Aarón Sánchez has been a force in the celebrity chef arena for over 20 years, and in that time his style has changed. The guy loves tattoos. In the 21st century, chefs and tattoos go together like peanut butter and chocolate, but Sánchez's ink goes beyond the usual "sleeves and a neck tat" look that's common in the industry today. Sánchez's tattoo sleeves extend to his fingers, his entire torso is inked up, and so are his legs. Every tattoo Sánchez gets holds a cultural tie to his heritage or signifies a personal meaning to his life.

Although Sánchez appeared more clean cut and conservative years ago, he's been into tattoos the whole time. Sánchez owns a tattoo shop in N.Y.C. with the person who gave him his first tattoo in 1995. "When I started cooking, like tattooing it was considered an anti-establishment way of life," Sánchez told the Napa Valley Register in 2015 (he was even getting a tattoo during the interview). As his culinary fame expanded, so did his literal body of work.

Sánchez's goatee and ink collection might give off a tough guy vibe (especially when he crosses his arms), but he's a happy-go-lucky, family-man type. For Sánchez, life is about celebrating your roots, connecting with people, and finding happiness through that. In this way, his love for tattoos and food share a common bond.

If accessorizing with abandon is the mark of a powerful female chef cementing her legacy, play on Nancy Silverton, play on. Few celebrity chefs on this list have been around half as long as Silverton. In the 1980s, the native Californian put her classically trained sensibilities to good use, working as the pastry chef at Wolfgang Puck's legendary Spago, then opening restaurants and bakeries of her own. When Silverton began featuring more on food television, her flair for bold fashion was impossible to ignore.

Silverton's '90s look consisted of pulling her curls into a high ponytail and sporting an apron with plain clothing. As time went on, she tired of the mundane aesthetic. Like the true artisan she is, Silverton decided to totally morph her style. As she told The Cut, "I have developed a deep desire to wear stylish clothes. My first restaurant job, I wore Levis and a T-shirt. With my age and financial situation, I have been fortunate to be able to afford the clothes I love. I can put on a Marni or even a Gucci outfit, go to work, and put on my White Bark apron over it." And that curly hair of hers? It's twisted into a bun with a dozen hair clips. We wouldn't have her any other way.

When Chef Michael O'Hare appeared on BBC Two's "Great British Menu" in 2015, he didn't look or cook like anyone else who had been on the show. As the owner of The Man Behind The Curtain, an avant-garde, Michelin star restaurant in Leeds, O'Hare seemed on track to usher in a new era of the U.K. rebel chef — glam rock edition. A lot has changed for O'Hare since 2015, his look included.

His jet black, shaggy mullet got a good amount of screen time, but not everything fun can last. The chef grew his tresses into a wavy blonde mane. The look is a full departure from his T.V. debut, and was years in the making. O'Hare favored a bleached version of the shag-mullet for a while, cut it short, then grew it out again.

O'Hare was looking like a fit surfer when The Man Behind The Curtain closed in late 2023. It was a loss, but not enough to cramp this chef's style. The restaurant was rebranded as Psycho Sandbar in 2024 and as far as we know, the food and O'Hare's locks are still flowing.

Salt Bae is the ultimate enigma. Does he speak? He seems super rich. Wait, who is this man? He is Nusr-Et Gökçe and he hails from Turkey. He did get super rich after a clip of him campily salting steak became so popular online that it sent his luxury steakhouse business into overdrive. He assumed the persona of Salt Bae and speaks very little. He has little round glasses and a little mustache. Before his life of luxury, Gökçe was a different person.

He was born in a stone shack in the Turkish village of Pasali. At 12, he left school and became a butcher's apprentice to help the family finances. Gökçe said he grew up wearing clothes that were two sizes too big, which made him uncomfortable. Now, he prefers Italian suits. The boyish physique and unibrow Gökçe had in the old days have vanished. His facial hair is manicured, his bod totally ripped. The cap he wore as a young butcher was traded in for a sleek man bun.

The circumstances by which Gökçe came to butchering were rough, but he took it seriously. In 2010, he opened his first restaurant. Before his viral moment, Gökçe was known to wear a deep v-neck t-shirt and dark slacks at work. He still dons this uniform when performing his come-hither way of salting steak (called a Salt Bae) during dinner service at his steakhouses.

It's no secret that 2020 was a tough year for everyone, and that includes Rachael Ray. She was forced to film her series in her home, which was completely destroyed after a chimney fire spread, and consumed a lifetime of family history. Fast forward to 2022, and Ray's instructional Instagram videos revealed a very different look than the one that fans were accustomed to. That included her switch to wearing glasses, and lighter, straighter hair than she'd previously sported. 

Less-than-kind comments also expressed opinions about her weight, and worry about her health. That became a theme in other Instagram videos as well, and concern became more prevalent when Ray appeared on "The Drew Barrymore Show" in 2025. She had been absent from the public eye for seven months, following a video in which fans worried about her apparent difficulty speaking. 

It's been suggested that Ray's changing appearance has to do with undisclosed health issues. In 2024, Ray was on a podcast when she said (via People), "I've had a couple of bad falls in the last couple of weeks, so I haven't been doing [chores]." In 2025, she gave Us Weekly an exclusive interview on the heels of another video, where fans noted she looked energetic, was smiling, and had even lighter hair. She said she was keeping busy, adding, "To be a woman in her 50s and still considered relevant is cool, but to have partners ... and support people that I want to support is extraordinary."

In 2025, Valerie Bertinelli appeared on "The Drew Barrymore Show," and shocked everyone with apparently now-blonde hair. Those videos that made the rounds on social media only told part of the story, as Bertinelli later said that it was a wig. She wrote in an Instagram post (in part), "I've spent a lifetime hiding in plain sight and making myself smaller to make people comfortable. What I want to see now is that little girl that never felt she had a voice and give her a voice. ... That little girl, has brown hair."

Bertinelli has also been forthcoming about her struggles with body positivity. Famously finding herself in the limelight as a teenager, Bertinelli wrote about her fluctuating weight, changing appearance, and struggles with self-esteem in her memoir, "Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time." She has addressed the same topics during multiple media interviews.

A 2024 bathroom selfie came with the sentiment that she had learned to love her image, and her body for the first time in her life, after spending years examining her relationship with food, exploring her passion for running, and pilates, and giving up alcohol. In an exclusive interview with us here at Mashed, Bertinelli said she stopped counting calories in favor of another measurement: "I don't get on the scale anymore. I don't care. 'How do I feel today?' Not 'How do I look today?' Instead, it's 'What is my character? How do I love today?'"

Back in 2024, Duff Goldman's transformation was turning heads, and making headlines with what was reportedly the culmination of years of focusing on a vegetable- and fish-filled meal plan, along with exercise sessions five days a week. By 2025, Goldman said that he had lost 42 pounds, and he's been candid about having a very good reason for his changing outlook on health, nutrition, and exercise: His daughter, Josephine.

Goldman told People, "Making the right decisions becomes so much less of a chore because you're making those decisions for somebody that's relying on you." Those decisions involved meal prepping, and keeping salads in the fridge, regular weight-lifting sessions, starting the day with a glass of water, and making time for early-morning workouts. He has stressed that these lifestyle changes haven't been easy.

Key to making healthier choices, he's said, is being kind to yourself while you're doing it. Goldman said that he learned very quickly that decisions involved breaking old habits just as much as forming new ones, telling Parade, "When you give yourself a little more leeway, you are able to understand it's not a straight line. ... It's a curvy path towards getting healthy."

Adam Richman is known for his wild battles with food, from the grossest "Man v. Food" episodes, to the Wall of Pain challenge that nearly killed him. But back in 2013, the star retired from those food challenges, and unveiled a new look that saw him dropping around 60 pounds. The following year, he did a photo shoot for Cosmopolitan UK that left little to the imagination, and confirmed he had lost 70 pounds. He told them (via Today), "To go from hating the way I looked to being a Cosmo centerfold is a profound honor. If you're a guy who's always been the fun-to-be-around teddy bear, then all of a sudden people are viewing you as sexy, it's nice."

Richman's actions in 2014 were famously controversial, especially when he posted photos alongside a "thinspiration" hashtag, and engaged with comments from others who pointed out how problematic the term was. Richman did issue an apology.

In 2025, Richman acknowledged new weight gain in a post on X, explaining that he had undergone an operation, and subsequent recovery time. The following month, he explained he was going to go through several more surgeries to correct what he described as old injuries, noting it terrified him: His father had gone in for a seemingly routine surgery, and died in the hospital. He thanked fans for support, saying on Instagram, "The concern and love that I got from you guys... [has] given me more strength than I had on my own."

Matty Matheson's life and career have had a lot of ups and downs, and it's undeniable that this over-the-top chef and author is an absolute blast to watch, no matter what he's doing. He's long been known for a style that he described to menswear company Harry Rosen as "a late '80s wrestler on vacation." More recently, though, you may have noticed him showing up to events in tailored suits. In 2022, he posted a photo on Instagram captioned, "I HAVE GROWN TO LOVE A WELL MADE AND PERFECT FITTED SUIT," because of course he types in all caps.

Matheson has said that he prefers to come up with his own red carpet outfits, and there's no denying they're absolutely on-brand for him. Longtime fans have also noticed another change, too. In 2024, he spoke with Men's Health to say that over the previous year, he had lost 60 pounds. He went on to say how he'd done it, and it started with cutting things like sugar, and fast food out of his diet. From there, he added exercise, too, noting that he's always making it a priority to get some activity into his day, even if it's push-ups in his hotel while he's traveling. He explained, "I made myself hate drugs and alcohol, and now I made myself hate processed foods and sugar. ... it's my choice every day. I just have to choose to not put it in my body."

Back in 2012, fans noticed a shift in the social media photos that Nigella Lawson was posting, and that the British chef had seemingly dropped several dress sizes. Lawson has spoken about the importance of things like portion control, and balance, and in a 2015 interview with Good Housekeeping, she spoke about her fluctuating weight, and where she was at the moment. "I feel like I haven't lost weight, but I'm possibly in better shape," she explained. She credited a regular yoga practice with making her feel as though she had found that balance, adding, "... As you get on in life, you value feeling well as opposed to looking well. Yoga certainly makes you feel great, and you want to carry on feeling great."

Lawson has been vocal about her belief that dieting, and depriving yourself of the foodie pleasures that life has to offer isn't the way to go about being healthy. She's maintained that belief over the years, and in 2024, she spoke out about Ozempic. While she emphasized that she wasn't commenting on anyone's medical needs, or saying not to follow doctors' advice, she did say that it wasn't something she would personally use. She told The Times (via the Independent), "I have spent a lot of life trying to help people not feel that food is the enemy. And I am always someone who would prefer to think about what I add to my diet than what I remove."

In 2024, Guy Fieri sat down to chat with Men's Health, and address his recent transformation. It came at the end of the 48th season of "Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives," and the publication noted he had changed over the years. His signature bowling shirts had been swapped for leather jackets, and he had lost 30 pounds. He told them, "I think moderation is a real thing." He later added, "Once I started getting more serious about [intermittent fasting], the quantity of food I was eating, and exercise, it really changed the whole thing." He worked with a personal trainer who guided the addition of regular workouts to his days, and started hiking consistently while wearing a weighted vest. He's also a proponent of saunas, and cold plunges. 

Fieri's dedication to getting fit, and staying healthy, actually began years prior. In 2022, he told People the simple fact was that his family was top priority, and he knew he had to care for his health for them."I've changed my lifestyle in the last couple years," he said. "I'm in better shape now than I was when I was 30. I don't want to die young. I want to be around for my kids. I want to be around for Hunter and Ryder's kids."  He's also said that what he won't do is forbid himself from enjoying the foods that he truly loves, saying that life is meant to be lived in a way that you can enjoy.