Patrick Dempsey Reveals the Fate of His Gray Hair and Admits That People Get 'Territorial' About His Famous Look
- - Patrick Dempsey Reveals the Fate of His Gray Hair and Admits That People Get 'Territorial' About His Famous Look
Michelle LeeJanuary 29, 2026 at 11:02 PM
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Patrick Dempsey attends a TAG Heuer event in 2024
Xavi Torrent/Getty
Patrick Dempsey is getting real about his hair
The actor opened up to Parade about one of his most famous assets and admitted that the people around him get "territorial" about his locks
He also revealed the future of his now signature salt-and-pepper hair
One of Patrick Dempsey's famous assets should get its own trademark.
Throughout his career, the actor has become most recognizable by his dreamy strands, and in a new interview with Parade, the Grey's Anatomy alum revealed that people around him get "quite territorial" when it comes to his head of hair.
Patrick, 60, retold a story about how his wife of 26 years, Jillian, cut his hair during winter break, and the hair pro on set of his new show, Memory of a Killer, "could tell that she cut it."
Patrick Dempsey at the SiriusXM Studios on Jan. 28, 2026
Jason Mendez/Getty
"She was analyzing his technique and he was analyzing hers. It was quite funny. People are quite territorial when it comes to my hair," Patrick admitted.
The Emmy nominee admitted that Jillian, with whom he shares three children, "takes good care" of him and that it's "hard" when she isn't doing his hair — which he added will stay its natural salt-and-pepper shade for a long time. "I actually like the gray hair," he said.
A makeup artist, hairstylist and founder of her eponymous cosmetics brand, Jillian often shares a behind-the-scenes look at their at-home styling appointments.
In 2022, she spoke to PEOPLE about being by Patrick's side when he made the shocking decision to shave off his luscious locks, labeling the transformation as a "spur-of-the-moment" cut akin to a "rebirth" after he bleached his hair platinum blond for a role in Ferrari, then dyed it back.
Patrick Dempsey in 2018
Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis/Getty
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"...It wasn't the same natural 'salt-and-pepper' color that we all know and love," she said. "In order to let his color grow back naturally, we needed to give him a fresh and short start."
The Dempseys love story actually began with his hair.
In 1994, the heartthrob booked an appointment at her salon, which she through was a joke at the time. She was pleasantly surprised when he walked into her salon. "I was shocked," she previously told PEOPLE. "But at the same time, I was happy because he was so cute.
The two would form a friendship that didn't turn romantic until 1997, as they were both in relationships at the time of their meeting. Fast forward two years, and Jillian and Patrick got hitched on July 31, 1999. The pair briefly split in 2015, but the couple has managed to weather the ups and downs.
"Our marriage was not something I was prepared to let go of," Patrick told PEOPLE in 2016. "I didn't feel like we had done all the work. And we both wanted to do that work. That's where it started."
They are parents of daughter Tallula and twin sons Darby and Sullivan.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
