Ex-footballer becomes 'rock star' hairdresser

A former semi-professional footballer who retrained as a hairdresser after being released by his club has been nominated for a national award.

Bruno Marc Giamattei was a 16-year-old non-contract player when he was let go by then Reading FC manager Maurice Evans, and instead ended up in his father's barber shop.

He went on to play for non-league clubs but, just a few years after leaving Reading, he opened his salon in Henley-on-Thames.

Now aged 62, Giamattei now travels the world giving demonstrations to thousands of aspiring hairdressers. He has now been nominated for the prestigious Hairdresser of the Year award.

Recalling his early days, Bruno said he signed on with the Royals after leaving school.

"Long story short, it all went wrong for me and I ended up in my father's salon at an early age and I learnt everything about men's barbering."

He said he had first been "dragged" into his father's barbershop around the age of 10, where he would sweep the the floor.

"I didn't really like it but then when my football wasn't going to happen, I ended up in the salon."

From their, Giamattei said he trained as a ladies hairdresser in London - before opening his first unisex salon in Henley.

"I just kind of fell into a love and a passion - I absolutely loved it."

In the meantime, he carried on playing football, firstly semi-professionally for Maidenhead United, and then in spells at Wokingham, Thame and Thatcham Town.

"It's more like the fun side of it - it was a side hustle mostly," he said of his time as a footballer.

Giamattei is now the creative director of the UK branch of global hair care brand Joico.

He also travels across the world to perform demonstrations to enormous crowds of aspiring hairdressers.

It began with entering competitions, where winning would result in brands "asking you to teach and educate for them", he explained.

"I honestly never thought a pair of scissors would take me all over the world."

"I do shows every year in China to 5,000 hairdressers on a huge stage with big screens - it's the closest thing to being like a rock star."

Giamattei said the British Hairdressing Awards were "the Oscars" of the industry and that, despite having won other categories in the past, "never thought" he would be nominated for the top prize.

"I thought it had passed me by," he said.

The 2026 British Hairdressing Awards take place at Grosvenor House, on Park Lane, in November.