8-year-old Emmitt Bailey wins 2022 USA Mullet Championship for his iconic hairdo. He won a pair of Pit Viper sunnies for coming first in the competition and $2,500 in cash.
8-Year-Old Boy Wins USA Mullet Championship 2022 For His Viral Hairdo
By
Zainab Pervez in
Cool
On 22nd August 2022
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8-year-old Emmitt Bailey from Menomonie, Wisconsin, was announced Sunday as the winner in the kids division for the USA Mullet Championships, beating out 688 other young entrants and their flowing locks. He won the competition with a total of 9,896 votes.
Emmitt won a pair of Pit Viper sunnies for coming first in the competition and US$2,500 (AUD$3,634, £2,115) in cash. He intends to buy himself a go-kart with his winnings.
“It’s awesome,” Emmitt told BuzzFeed News of his win. “It’s cool that so many people tell you that you got sweet hair.”
The mullet competition has been running since 2020 and is the brainchild of Kevin Begola, the owner of Michigan menswear store Bridge Street Exchange in Fenton, which is northwest of Detroit. Begola said he started the event to have some fun and to celebrate the iconic ’80s hairstyle.
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“You'll hear a lot of people say, ‘It's not just a haircut, it's a lifestyle,’ and I really do think that's part of it,” Begola told BuzzFeed News. “Most people with a mullet, obviously they can take the heat if people are kind of giving them crap about it, but I think we've kind of turned that corner.
“I do think the '90s country vibe is coming back hard right now,” he added.
Emmitt, who has been nicknamed 'Mullet Boy' by the press, revealed he has a special nickname for his 'do. It's Mufasa, because, obviously.
His mum Erin revealed she initially wasn't too keen on the 'business on the front, party in the back' hairstyle. But she's all for it now, of course.
"He was pretty adamant about wanting the mullet since the beginning," she told BuzzFeed News.
"I wasn't on board right away, but it’s just become part of his personality now. He just likes to do his own thing and have his own hair."
Entry fees from the competition were donated to Maggie’s Wigs 4 Kids, a Michigan charity that provides hairpieces for children suffering from cancer, alopecia, burns, or other disorders.
Among the other participants, Epic Orta came second with 8,404 votes and William Dale Ramsey came in third with a total of 4,058 votes.
Begola said he thinks the competition has proved to be so popular because people are eager for the fun that the mullet symbolizes.