A two year old toddler was 'left looking like Friar Tuck' after 'scalping' herself with her hairdresser mum's scissors - then having to sport David Bowie's 80s barnet from Labyrinth as her unruly locks grew back. Chloe Hope managed to indulge in her first DIY haircut after grabbing the scissors - usually stashed high out of reach - that were placed on a countertop while her parents were decorating.
Mum Jo Hope had nipped to the bathroom for 'about a minute' to brush her teeth and was horrified to come out and discover the proud tot clutching tufts of her hair and declaring she looked 'pretty'. The then two-and-a-half-year-old had snipped the top of her previously shoulder-length blonde locks to a 1cm-long circular patch on her head - earning her the nickname Friar Tuck.
Hairdresser and colour technician Jo, 31, spent weeks covering Chloe's head with headbands and hats in a desperate bid to hide the botched 'do as her hair grew back. Chloe's self-administered cut left her rocking a mullet two months later - looking just like David Bowie as the Goblin King in the 80s' cult-classic Labyrinth.
Chloe Hope was left looking like David Bowie in Labyrinth (Kennedy News and Media)
Jo, from Durham, County Durham, said: "It was just a normal morning, I was getting ready and nipped into the bathroom to brush my teeth. I'd been in there for no more than about a minute and when I came out of the bathroom my jaw dropped.
"I saw her with a handful of hair, very proud of herself, saying 'Mummy look' and that she was pretty. She'd pretty much made a short circular patch of hair on her head. She loved it, she thought she looked fantastic, I was mortified.
"Being a hairdresser I felt a certain amount of pressure [to sort it] but sadly all we could do was let it grow. She'd literally scalped herself so I called her Friar Tuck because she did look like him and when it grew back she looked like David Bowie [from Labrynth]."
Chloe indulged in the DIY haircut in July 2018 with bemused mum Jo taking the mullet snap in September 2018. She pinged the picture to her huge massive David Bowie fan dad who jokingly urged her to keep the striking 'do, claiming it looked 'cool'.
David Bowie in Labyrinth
Jo said: "It went from Friar Tuck then evolved into me having my very own Goblin King at home. This was literally bed head. She'd had a bath the night before, went to bed, got up the next morning and that was how she looked.
"I took that picture especially for my dad because he likes David Bowie. I said 'there you go, you've got your very own little rockstar'. He actually wanted us to keep her hair like that because he thought it looked cool."
Jo initially didn't see the funny side, blaming 31-year-old civil servant hubby Chris Hope for moving her scissors while decorating and admitting she 'could have killed him'. Jo said: "My hairdressing scissors are in a case and are usually up in a high place.
"We'd been doing some decorating work so they were put on the side with all the decorating things. My husband didn't want them to get put away with the decorating stuff so he moved them, not realising that they were in reach of her.
Chloe after her DIY haircut (Kennedy News and Media)
"When this happened I knew that Chris had moved my scissors, I went absolutely mad. When he came home he was a bit shocked but did find it quite funny, I on the other hand could have killed him.
"I started to see the funny side later on that day. I called a friend of mine because I was in panic mode. She has two little ones near enough the same age as Chloe and she came round. She just burst out laughing and it made me feel better."
Chloe, now six, has managed to grow back her long blonde locks, but Jo says she's had to shape the hair round her face after the DIY disaster. Despite having to tame her locks while it grew back, Jo says hairdressing genes clearly run in the family and she believes the family have a budding barber on their hands.
Jo Hope (Kennedy News and Media)
Jo said: "Her hair is now down to her bum. But if you look very closely I've had to shape in the hair around her face as it's still not as long as the previous hair that was left but it's getting there. As a hairdresser I rate her skills with the scissors 10/10, absolutely fantastic.
"It was a nice close cut, she didn't hurt herself in the process either. If she doesn't become a barber with those shearing skills, I'll be surprised."
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