Judge Judy Has A New Hair Look & Fans Are Freaking Out

Update: Earlier this year, Judge Judy shocked millions of viewers by debuting a brand-new look. For the first time in her 22 years on air, she swapped her iconic bowl-cut for a simple low ponytail — and her fans went wild.

In a new profile in The New York Times, Judge Judy, whose real name is Judy Sheindlin, reveals that the ponytail was all about giving her hair some rest from all the styling and primping it's endured for two decades. But the best part? The ponytail is actually a clip-on that she bought for about £23. (As the Times wrote, she still had the price tag in her purse.) According to Sheindlin, it's given her a "freedom that I haven’t had in 40 years," and she's already planning on buying at least three more. Let this be proof that a woman with a net worth of £325 million can still know the power of a good bargain.

Oprah Winfrey. Judge Judy. Mr. Feeny. These are just some of the people who made after-school TV absolutely essential viewing. Whether you just had a crushing altercation with your middle-school crush or generally felt overwhelmed by adolescence, you could switch to a basic cable channel after 3 p.m. and — rest assured — one of these personalities would be there, giving life advice — or, in Judy's case, just screaming.

For the past 22 years on air, Judge Judy has rocked the same iconic look: brown hair with caramel highlights styled into a short bob. But no more. This spring, Judge Judy, much like Bella Hadid and Camila Mendes, decided to embrace a brand-new look.

Gone is that mop of brown hair. On Monday's episode, the 76-year-old judge (whose real name is Judy Sheindlin) appeared with a... wait for it... ponytail. Her hair was pulled back with a barrette, and viewers, as you can imagine, were shook to their core.

Why has she gone and done this now, more than two decades into her TV career? Judge Judy has yet to make an official statement, but as one Twitter user noted, it does look an awful lot like Ruth Bader Ginsburg's go-to 'do.

Is this a case of icon recognizing icon? Legend recognizing legend?

After doing some digging, we did find that this style isn't exactly new. While this episode just caught people's attention yesterday, Judy's bailiff, Petri Hawkins Byrd, posted an Instagram of Judy's new hair back in February with the caption, "Change is good."

And we agree that change looks good on Judge Judy. Regardless of inspiration, we have to say that Judy is right on-trend with that stylish barrette. And for someone as iconic as Judy, we wouldn't expect anything less.