Dove Cameron ‘Surprised Herself’ by Going Back to Blonde (Exclusive)

Dove Cameron is an ever-evolving human.

After a dark brunette Cameron told PEOPLE in February 2023 she’d “fall into a deep, dark depression” if she went back to her signature blonde locks, the multi-hyphenate entertainer dyed her hair blonde once again in early 2024. So, what changed? Well, a lot.

While the “Boyfriend” musician, 29, now tells PEOPLE the previous comment about her hair was “silly” and “camp,” she recalls feeling a “vehement rejection” at the time of blonde hair as well as pop music, both of which she’s since returned to.

Dove Cameron.

Richie Shazam

“I think that for a long time, I had built up this sort of bastion of self-hatred,” recalls Cameron. “I had really picked myself apart, every piece and decided that none of it was worthy. And I didn’t care to do anything about that.”

Eventually, she found herself “denying” many aspects of her own identity. In other interviews at the time, she remembers shutting down the idea of making love songs, which she’s now been writing quite often in her relationship with fellow musician Damiano David of Måneskin.

“This whole record is love songs and pop music,” declares Cameron of her upcoming debut album. The project, set to feature her latest single “Too Much,” will arrive later this year.

“After all the work I did on myself, and finding myself in a very clean, clear, open, beautiful place in my life, I looked around and realized all of these limitations I placed on myself had vanished,” she says. “I had to rebuild something totally new, piece by piece, and discover who I was becoming and maybe who I’ve always been.”

The former child star looked back and felt as though she was struggling with “imposter syndrome” — but going through the experience led to “this beautiful new way of being.”

“I don’t know exactly how it came about or manifested, but I just know that it did, and I feel so lucky,” says Cameron. “I feel so, for the first time in my life, like myself in a way that I couldn’t have conceptualized or planned. It looks entirely different than what I thought it would look like, and I just have to be so thankful.”