Leighton Meester went platinum blonde and is totally unrecognisable

Serena and Blair are one of television's most iconic duos. Like Thelma and Louise or Romy and Michele, the two Gossip Girl besties ruled the Upper East Side and won us over in the process. And like all good pairings, they were different enough to be perfectly complementary to one another. B was more of a good girl, while S was known for her wild reputation. Blair was poised where Serena was more blasé and, of course, Serena was blonde and Blair a brunette. But now, Leighton Meester, who played Blair Waldorf on the show, has surprised fans by revealing a brand new look – she's platinum blonde.

The actress has had several hair transformations over the years, though they've never been particularly drastic. She lobbed her hair short after finishing Gossip Girl to let her hair recover, and after that she tried a few hairstyles from beachy waves to a contemporary pin-up style, but always in shades of brown, caramel, or a blondish ombre. "All my hair colours and styles have been natural," she told Elle, "not super harsh and edgy."

Until now. This is the first time the actress has gone platinum blonde, a drastic change for someone who is naturally a bit darker. The whole process took six hours, and it looks sharp. Behold:

"I have this platinum hair now which is the opposite of natural. I have not gone platinum before," she admitted. The new look is still a "shock" to her, but she says she likes how "fun" it is to be a blonde. The 31-year-old star also revealed that she's more careful with selecting outfits now, being aware that the way she dresses might make her look a bit like Barbie.

"It’s definitely a shock every time I see it in a mirror, but in a good way—it’s a makeover, it’s really fun," she said. "Now, I try to steer as clear as possible from pink and real saccharine-looking floral, anything that’s too 'feminine' because for me, it starts to look a little bit Barbie. I feel like with makeup I can play it up a little more. It's certainly fun for myself to experiment and have fun, but it’s also fun to reveal it to people that are close to you like... surprise!"

Leighton was aware of how damaging it can be to bleach your hair, but says she avoided excess damage with a special black rice-infused Nexxus Keraphix Masque and Reconstructing Protein Treatment. Leighton shared details of the products on her Instagram stories, snapping pictures of her appointment at New York's Nexxus salon yesterday.

Credit: Instagram / @itsleightonmeester

Credit: Instagram / @itsleightonmeester

Credit: Instagram / @itsleightonmeester

Aura Friedman was the colourist behind the transformation, a top professional who's worked with celebrities including Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lawrence.

Leighton says she loves her new hair and especially likes how healthy it has stayed throughout the treatment. "My hair is amazingly shiny and soft considering how much it was just processed and I think that’s a real testament to the treatments I’ve been doing to replace the keratin protein in my hair," she said after her salon visit.

Although she marketed herself as an iconic brunette, the bright blonde look really suits her. And it seems that Leighton does think that blondes have more fun.