A top hairdresser was stunned when a woman he says made his childhood 'hell' suddenly appeared in his inbox years later asking him to do her hair.

Kyle Castile had spent years building the very career he says he was once ridiculed for wanting - only for one of his former tormentors to approach him after seeing his success.

Her message appeared friendly, congratulating Kyle on 'smashing life' and asking whether he could squeeze her into his packed appointment book. Kyle now owns one of the biggest salons in Manchester and luxury hair extensions brand CAST.

But when the stylist confronted her about their history and politely declined, the apparent olive branch quickly unravelled.

Within a handful of messages, the woman went from describing herself as an 'old friend' who wanted to support his business to insulting his sexuality and telling him his content was 'cringe as f**k'.

The exchange later escalated further when Kyle said the woman's boyfriend contacted him and threatened to 'come and see' him at his salon unless he removed a social media post about the encounter.

Kyle has refused to back down, saying the experience has reminded him how far he has come from a childhood when he would go to bed worrying about what his bullies might do next.

The exchange began when Kyle received a message from the woman, who he kept anonymous, asking to become one of his clients.

'Hiya Kye. You're smashing life and I'm so proud of you,' she wrote.

'Can you squeeze me in sometime soon? I would love to start coming to you and support an old friend.'

Kyle told her his waiting list already stretched until March 2027, before addressing something he couldn't ignore.

'I'm surprised that you've messaged,' he replied.

'You didn't like me when I was younger and even up until a few years [ago] you've not really been very kind to me. No disrespect, but you made my life hell.'

Rather than apologising, the woman dismissed what happened between them as childhood behaviour Kyle should have moved beyond.

'That was just stupid stuff when we [were] kids. Don't take it seriously ur like 30 now,' she replied.

'The key is in the word 'years ago'. Let it go and let's make some videos of you doing my hair. We can show your work and also it helps my [business too]. [Come on] Kye.'

Kyle declined and explained why he wasn't prepared to treat their history as something insignificant simply because it happened years earlier.

'Honestly, in the most respectful way possible, I'm going to pass,' he wrote.

'For me it wasn't stupid and I'm sure you've grown and changed - just as I have. It was genuine hell for me, I was isolated, called names and that time of my life I've carried with me for years.

'Although I'm not only blaming you. It's just a part of my life I'd like to leave in the past and only move forward. I wish you wellness and all the luck in the world. Look after yourself x.'

Kyle's refusal appeared to bring the cordial conversation to an abrupt end.

'Ha ha ha this is hilarious,' the woman responded.

She accused him of thinking he was 'better than [her]' and acting as though she had been 'some monster under [his] bed'. She then attacked the content he now creates online.

'Your content is sh*t it's cringe as f**k,' she wrote, before making another derogatory comment about his sexuality and masculinity.

He later shared the interaction on Instagram and explained the woman had once occupied an enormous amount of his thoughts.

'Once upon a time, this person was the first thing I thought of when I went to sleep. Worrying what they'd do next,' Kyle said.

'I'm not going to sit here and say I was a walk in the park because I wasn't. I definitely have never taken things lying down.

'However, what shifts the narrative from being a kid to being a bully is attacking things I can't change. One being who I am attracted to.'

Kyle said the treatment he received from her and others eventually became motivation to build a life where they could no longer hold the same power over him.

'It's wild to think that all of what she and others did to me have just been a burning fuel inside of me to conquer, grow, to make sure no one ever has that power over me again,' he said.

'Now things are happening for me, now I'm truly breaking through, now I'm thriving - she wants to reconnect in a totally different capacity.'

The encounter raises an uncomfortable question many people face years after leaving school: how much access do you owe someone simply because the behaviour that hurt you happened when you were young?

People can change considerably as they grow older, and childhood conflicts can look very different with the benefit of adulthood.

But Kyle said moving forward didn't mean he had to welcome someone from a painful period back into his life.

'She had that power over me years ago, she still thought she still did. But no,' he said.

'I am the master of my own universe, I decide who's in my life, I decide who sits in my chair, I decide everything.'

Kyle said protecting the life he had created was more important than attempting to repair a relationship he had no interest in revisiting.

'I protect my peace over everything,' he said.

His former bully's response to being turned down also appeared to undermine her insistence that the behaviour between them had simply been 'stupid stuff' from childhood.

The confrontation didn't end with the pair's messages. Days later, Kyle claimed he received another message, this time apparently from the woman's boyfriend, demanding he remove his social media post.

Kyle refused.

'I'm gonna be here doing me. Always. I'll never be intimidated into making a decision. I'll always make my own decisions,' he said.

Kyle said he had received an outpouring of support from people who saw themselves in his decision to keep a former bully firmly in the past.

'Thank you all so much for standing up for me,' he said.

'The amount of messages I've had has been beautiful and made me see the beauty again in people.'

Years after Kyle says he was targeted for being gay and wanting to pursue hairdressing, his appointment book now has a waiting list stretching into 2027.

And while his former bully told him the 'key' was remembering it all happened years ago, Kyle's response was equally clear: leaving the past behind doesn't mean he has to give it a seat in his chair.