Chris Appleton, 42, discussed how his 21-year-old daughter, Kitty-Blu, keeps him youthful during an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at Spotify’s Best New Artist party in Los Angeles on January 29th.
Chris Appleton, a celebrity hairstylist and best-selling author, discusses his book, Your Roots Don’t Define You, with PEOPLE. He believes that having a father keeps him young.
Chris, 42, and his daughter, Kitty-Blu (Kitty) Appleton, 21, spoke with PEOPLE exclusively at Spotify’s Best New Artist Party in Los Angeles on Thursday, January 29. During the chat, the hairstylist, who has styled Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez, and Ariana Grande, revealed that Kitty keeps him up to date with current trends.
I constantly ask Kitty. I’m like, “Kitty, what is this? Is it cool?” “Should I do this, or shall I do this?” the father of two said.
“She just gives me advice on what to do and where to go.” Chris praised the benefits of having children, stating that they keep him young.
Chris and his former partner, Katie Katon, have a son named Billy, who is 23 years old.
Chris chatted with PEOPLE on the popularity of his new book, Your Roots Don’t Define You, which was released on January 20. The book, which is both memoir and half self-help, dives into his experience coming out to his family while also offering practical advice for getting through adversity and starting over.
Chris explained that publishing a best-selling book felt even more significant because he had a learning handicap as a child.
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“I think for me it was, you know, at school I was kind of dyslexic so it was hard to maybe be understood,” he told me. “So to be a New York Times best seller just really feels like a full circle moment,” he told me.
“I’m grateful that my coming-out narrative has resonated with individuals. Obviously, there’s a lot of press surrounding [the show] Heated Rivalry right now, and I think it’s really refreshing to see different coming out stories, you know, in the sports world, and this was my experience, and it’s really wonderful to see it helps people,” he said.
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“People have stopped me and said, you know, like, ‘You’ve enabled me to feel like I can do [come out],’ and that to me is the most special thing, ’cause it wasn’t something I had when I was a kid,” according to him.
Chris previously spoke up about his dread and concern about coming out to his children when he was 26, revealing that he felt that “it would be better for them to have a dad that was dead than a dad that was gay,” during an August appearance on the On Purpose podcast.
“I felt like it was cancer. “I wanted to get it out of me,” he stated.
The actor went on to explain that he is now in a “good place,” having a healthy bond with both of his children.
