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'Working for Ariana Grande shows dreams can come true'

Sacha BigwoodBristol
Carl Bembridge Carl Bembridge poses with the singer Ariana Grande. Carl and Ariana are both pouting and looking at the camera for a selfie. Ariana wears a pink jacket and white rimmed sunglasses.Carl Bembridge
Carl Bembridge worked as Ariana Grande's hairstylist when she was in London filming Wicked

A celebrity hairdresser has said "dreams can come true no matter where you are from" after working with the likes of the Pussycat Dolls, Ariana Grande and Love Island USA.

Carl Bembridge, from Bristol, began an apprenticeship at Redfield's Cohesion Hair as a "shy" schoolboy, having undergone 11 operations due to the bone condition rickets.

But his "big break" came after being offered the job of Ariana Grande's personal hairstylist while she was filming Wicked in London.

When he took the call he said he "dropped to the floor and started crying", adding: "I was chosen out of anyone in the world, so that was crazy."

At the start of his career, he used tips to pay for transport to London, where he volunteered on shoots for small magazines.

He then posted his work on social media, which caught the attention of his first celebrity client, Katie Price. A decade on, Carl has just completed a press tour in New York with The Pussycat Dolls, and his work has appeared on the front cover of Vogue.

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Carl Bembridge Carl Bembridge poses with the singer Nicole Scherzinger from The Pussycat Dolls. Nicole wears a denim jacket and in the background is a city skylineCarl Bembridge
Bembridge just finished a press tour of New York with The Pussycat Dolls

Bembridge grew up on a council estate in Speedwell, and said he was worried having rickets and multiple operations to realign his leg bones would affect his employment.

"I went to my first photo shoot on crutches because I didn't want to tell them in case they booked someone else," he added.

Vogue Greece/Paola Kudacki The singer Nicole Scherzinger posing on the front cover of the magazine Vogue Greece. She is wearing a lilac dress, has her arms outstretched and her dark hair is cascading over her shoulderVogue Greece/Paola Kudacki
Carl styled Nicole Scherzinger's hair for the front cover of Vogue Greece

He said although he now lives in Essex, whenever he is back in Bristol he always visits Cohesion Hair.

"They are my family, I still go on the Christmas work do, birthday nights out.

"To them I'm just Carl, I'm their baby," he added.

Iulia David Carl Bembridge poses in a black vest at a photoshootIulia David
Carl has 141,000 followers on Instagram.

Karen Whyte co-owner of Cohesion Hair said Carl "started with us a schoolboy on work experience and from the very moment we met him we knew he had potential".

"He just oozed it, but he was painfully shy… [but] he's not shy anymore," she added.

Living three hours away from home means he does not get as many requests for haircuts from family and friends - except for his mother.

She was the one who first bought Carl a hair styling mannequin when he was a young boy, which he spent every weekend practising on.

He has now landed a new job working on Season 8 of Love Island USA, which is based in Fiji, and has an agent in America.

"So I'm going to pop over there and see where it takes me," he said.

"I like the thought that I'm flying the flag for Bristol. Dreams can come true no matter where you're from."

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