After gaining instant celebrity status with her TV show, Jon & Kate plus 8, Kate Gosselin has not only drawn a lot of attention for their turbulent marriage which ended up in divorce, but also for her old-fashioned hair do.

Now all that seems to have changed. Kate has finally said goodbye to her signature short, asymmetrical hairstyle.

Short hair was easy, she tells People, in the issue out Friday. I could shower in less than three minutes.

I'm starting over. It's good to have hair again. I never thought I'd have short hair for as long as I did. I feel like this is a fresh start, a fresh me, a fresh life. I'm rebuilding. There's no option for this not to be a good year. Now I get to start over with a new self and new goals, she added.

What wasn't easy was the 20 hours celeb hairstylist Ted Gibson spent giving Gosselin the blond hair extensions.

With her new hair comes a new name, she jokes: It's hyphenated. I am now Kate Clean-Slate.