How Susan Olsen’s ’70s Bleach Binge Backfired Spectacularly
Another night, another reason to doubt every beauty hack ever sold—Brady Bunch star Susan Olsen reveals that bleaching her hair every three weeks for the hit show turned her golden locks into a shedding nightmare. In a recent sit-down reported by the New York Post and echoed by People Magazine, Olsen confessed that the relentless schedule of peroxide treatments, mandated by producers desperate for a uniform “sun-kissed” look, left her hair so brittle that clumps began falling out faster than you can say “Alice, what’s for dinner?” She recalls staring into the mirror as her once-luxuriant curls disintegrated, wondering, “Did my childhood just dissolve into handfuls of broken strands?”
It gets worse—or at least more painfully predictable—when you consider the era’s zero-shade awareness. According to Olsen’s own podcast confession and a transcript obtained by Entertainment Weekly, she had no idea of the long-term damage she was signing up for. Every supply run to the salon, every emergency duck-and-cover moment behind the makeup trailer, they were all proof that chasing perfection on camera often means sacrificing the real thing. By her teenage years, Olsen admits she was already napping under plastic wraps filled with coconut oil and vitamin packs, desperate to salvage any surviving follicle.
Olsen’s story is a cautionary hair-care tale that feels vintage in more ways than one: an ‘80s beauty regime with zero science, a production line mentality that treats actors like mannequins, and the inevitable health toll served up with a side of nostalgic regret. She now peppers her memoir—and occasional interviews on SiriusXM’s Elvis Duran show—with bleak humor about that bleach-and-pray cycle. “Of course, it was going to cave in,” she shrugs, clearly expecting her audience to nod along in grim solidarity. After all, if a wholesome family sitcom can weaponize hair dye into a literal weapon of mass destruction, what isn’t on the table?
This calamity isn’t limited to retro TV land; it’s a timely reminder that the next time someone swears by a miracle toner or at-home peroxide kit, there may be a bill to pay—hair fallout included. Olsen’s hindsight-ridden revelations are a bleak bookmark in beauty history, a testament that when showbiz meets vanity, it almost always ends messily. At this point, should we even pretend to be surprised by the fallout? Bookmark this for the inevitable “I told you so” moment.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post, People Magazine
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
