Emily Atack Ditches 80s Perm for Blonde Waves

ditched the big and messy 80s hair favoured by her Rivals character in favour of tumbling soft waves, as she stepped out in London to promote her new gameshow. 

As the saucy and ambitious Sarah Stratton in the hit Disney+ series, the actress, 36, sports voluminous blonde curls, intentionally styled to be 'enormous' to match the show's bold and glamorous aesthetic. 

But going about her regular life on Tuesday, Emily switched up the bold vintage look for a more modern blowout, getting long platinum extensions added in by her hair stylist.

She took to her Instagram Stories to show off her hair transformation, before heading over to Global Studios to appear on Heart Radio.

The mother-of-one cut an effortlessly chic figure in a black blazer with matching trousers and woven sliders, teamed with a golden pendant necklace.

Toting a handbag and hiding her face beneath a pair of chic sunglasses, Emily flashed a radiant smile as she arrived at the London studios.

Clearly thrilled with her bouncy new tresses, the star couldn't resist sharing yet another selfie from her car, quipping in the caption: 'It's Nobody's Fool promo day so just going to show off my hair one more time'.

Nobody's Fool is ITV's latest game show offering, hosted by Emily and her Rivals co-star Danny Dyer, that sees 10 players putting their intellect to the test in a 'smart house'.

Contestants must lie and cheat their way to a potential £100,000 prize pot by convincing the others that they have aced daily quizzes - even when they haven't.

Emily's hair makeover comes ahead of the release of Rivals season two this Friday, which critics are already hailing as a 'glorious romping return' that more than lives up to its opening run.

Based on Dame Jilly Cooper's 1988 novel, the comedy-drama debuted on Disney+ in October 2024 and immediately became a huge hit, quickly securing a renewal for a second outing. 

The all-star cast featuring the likes of David Tennant, Alex Hassell and Aidan Turner are back for more raucous exploits in Rutshire, and have teased that fans should be prepared for things to get racier than ever.

And critics previewing the first four episodes have almost unanimously praised the upcoming season in a string of five-star reviews.

Sarah Dempster for The Guardian gave the show five stars but mused: 'How best to reward such exquisitely knowing escapism? Ten stars? Ten thousand stars? Rivals is beyond earthly praise'.

The Telegraph's Benji Wilson agreed with another five-star write-up, as he declared: 'Rivals continues to refresh the parts that other television cannot reach – a heady mix of guilty pleasure, trenchant satire, rambunctious comedy and out-and-out trash'.

Carol Midgley for The Times said that 'despite its deliberate corniness, this is also gloriously uplifting television. It is unashamedly celebratory and perhaps even better than the last series'.

While Den Of Geek's Lacy Baugher praised the show's 'sprawling cast' who 'remain thoroughly excellent throughout'.

Baugher singled out Emily for the highest praise, saying she 'steals much of this run of episodes, and makes her Sarah feel indispensable to the larger world of Rutshire in ways few of us likely expected'. 

However, Rebecca Nicholson of the Financial Times was one of the few to not award five stars, giving the second series three instead.

'Some of the storylines, particularly those about the TV industry, drag a little,' she argued. 'Rivals needs more slapstick, more of those capers, to keep things as light as they need to be for it to really work... 

'Rivals is at its strongest when it embraces its silly side, and accepts its lot as a jolly old romp.'