Evil premiere: Ariana Grande goes brunette as she says goodbye to Glinda

Ariana Grande has said her new darker hair isn’t about saying goodbye to her Wicked character Glinda, but rather a way to “do something different.”

The singer and actress, 32, recently swapped her signature Glinda-era blonde locks for a brunette hue, sending her fans on social media wild.

It comes as she reprises her role as the Good Witch of the North alongside Cynthia Erivo, who returns as Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in Wicked: For Good.

On Monday night, London’s Leicester Square was transformed into the magical Land of Oz, with Wicked-inspired shades of pink and green and a sprawling yellow brick road running through the center.

Fans came dressed in witch hats and green makeup, while others channeled their inner Glinda in sparkly floor-length dresses.

Speaking to BBC News, Erivo, who was recently nominated for two Grammy Awards, said it felt “overwhelming” to close the chapter on Wicked.

“It feels beautiful though,” Grande said. “This project will always be part of our lives.”

The sequel picks up where the first film left off and covers the years after Elphaba and Glinda’s decision to separate.

Elphaba is now an enemy of the state of Oz, while Glinda has become a public figure controlled by the Wizard.

In the sequel, Grande and Erivo will once again join their co-stars Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard.

Bridgerton star Bailey, 37, who reprises his role as Prince Fiyero, recently made history by becoming People magazine’s first openly gay “sexiest man alive.”

When BBC News asked him who his sexiest man of the year is, he didn’t miss a beat.

“Jon M Chu,” he said, naming the Wicked film director. “Because his genius and his compassion have no end.”

Then he laughed and added, “And since he cast me in this movie, it’s totally sexy.”

The sequel has a romantic plot, which might lead some to wonder if Bailey was channeling her inner Anthony (her Bridgerton character).

“I’m sure I’m extracting something I have somewhere in my bones,” he says.

As a side note, I also had to ask him if he would ever do Celebrity Traitors.

“The answer is we’ll have to find out,” he said, pausing dramatically before laughing. “I feel like I’m already exposing my game.”

When Grande recently revealed her new look on Instagram, many fans speculated that it was a way to say goodbye to her Good Witch character.

But when asked about that, he said: “No, I think it was just a way to do something different for the second movie and play with the darker tones, with the clothes and the beauty.

“It’s fun,” he said, as Erivo smiled and nodded.

The films have been adapted from the hit Broadway and West End musical, which in turn was based on Gregory Maguire’s 1995 novel.

However, the stage musical was split into two films for adaptation to the big screen, with the second set to be released on November 21.

The two films were shot simultaneously at Sky Studios Elstree in Hertfordshire between December 2022 and January 2024, with production interrupted midway by the Hollywood actors’ strike.

Wicked was the highest-grossing film of 2024 in the UK and earned 10 Oscar nominations, winning two for best costumes and production design.

At two hours and 40 minutes, the first film alone was almost as long as the entire running time of the show.

But the second film is a little shorter, at 2 hours and 18 minutes.

Erivo and Grande’s chemistry and real-life friendship sparked several viral interview moments while promoting the first film last year, and the pair co-opened the Academy Awards in March with a medley of Wicked.

One challenge the sequel faces is that most of the musical’s best-known songs, such as Defying Gravity, Popular and The Wizard And I, appeared in the first film.

But the upcoming sequel will feature two new songs, and Chu told BBC News that the first time Grande and Erivo heard them, “they just cried.”

“It means a lot for now, however, many years later, we are here and people can see it on the big screen. I am very excited.”

Wicked For Good will hit theaters on November 21.