‘America’s Got Talent’ Winner Grace VanderWaal Is Completely Unrecognizable With Shaved Head

Grace VanderWaal is debuting an edgy new look four years after winning America’s Got Talent and the hearts of viewers four years ago. The singer-songwriter, 16, used to rock a bob when she first appeared as a 12-year-old on the hit NBC show, but earlier this month shaved off a baby pink pixie cut with “dog clippers” in a buzz cut transformation she shared to Instagram.

Showing off her fresh look in a selfie earlier this week, VanderWaal paired her blonde buzz cut with a black turtleneck sweater, hoop earrings and innovative makeup featuring a black line drawn across the bridge of her nose and across her eyebrow. Her followers were all about the new aesthetic. “GIRL THE LOOK, THE CLOTHES, THE MAKEUP!!!!” one person wrote, as another commented, “I want this glow up.” A third commented, “I LOVE UR HAIR STOPPP!”

VanderWaal’s shift in look comes along with a shift in her mental state as well. “I’m sitting in a shower.. but I’ve felt a release lately. I feel like I’m finally coping with years of resentment and mental battles,” she captioned a since-deleted video of herself rocking the buzzed head while singing in the bathtub, as per Talent Recap. “I feel like I’m ready to better myself and actually help myself. I’m ready to not be angry anymore. And somethings I’m not ready to forgive and heal. Some things I want to still hurt and be angry at and that’s okay. Something light put it’s hand on me recently.”

The “I Don’t Know My Name” singer added that while she can’t explain it, she was filled with “hope and motivation to get better and heal my past,” adding in the conclusion of her heartfelt caption, “I’m so excited for the future for all of us. Every day is a gift of potential progression and new beginnings.”

VanderWaal is also getting into acting, starring as the lead in Disney+’s Stargirl. In March 2019, VanderWaal spoke with Entertainment Tonight about taking on her first acting role. “I’m usually not nervous about things, ever, but Stargirl, I wasn’t nervous about until I actually started reading lines in front of the camera,” she said at the time. “On my first day where I had my first line, I remember I had a miniature breakdown. I was just like, ‘Why did I choose to do this? This is my first acting role and I’m a lead in a Disney movie. I’m so stupid!’”