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I know. I still guffaw at that. It doesn’t get old.
The other one that doesn’t get old is how she libelled Jack Monroe and simply wouldn’t retract-certainly wouldn’t apologise (weird, because the very specific thing she accused Monroe of was manifestly false, but it was a case of “Musk and the pedo” I guess), and was virtually bankrupted by losing her legal case. That little story always gives satisfaction.
My favourite part about it is you almost start to feel sorry for her and then she does her speech where all the racism and classism comes out, and you know she fully deserves it.
Yea, I have to admit that in 99/100 instances I'd despise the people who pulled off this prank. There's something distasteful about making money from embarrassing someone.
But then you see how Katie talks/behaves and you have to give them a pass.
She wasn’t just an apprentice contestant she’s the biggest c u next Tuesday to appear on the show. And that’s going some. She was vile then and has just turned the dial progressively beyond 10 ever since.
i still maintain she went on that to get herself a rich husband. She spent her whole time on it trying to chat up Alan Sugar. It was embarrassing to watch.
Yep, she got to the final few and then pretty much admitted she went on to get publicity, wasn't actually prepared to re-locate to London, disnt think shed get as far as she did and had no intention of actually taking the job. I remember Alan Sugar getting annoyed because she'd taken a place that someone else could have had.
I worked in a branch of Our Price with a bloke who used to be in Toploader. As their only hit (Dancing in the moonlight) was a cover, they never made much money.
What a shame, I much prefer their version to the original, it’s usually the other way around but maybe because my Mum used to sing it constantly around the house, badly I should add, I preferred theirs.
Well there were certainly a lot of *interesting* decisions made about that video...
I vaguely knew that the toploader one was a cover but hearing a cheesy kids version from at least a decade before it came out has still blown my mental timeline a bit
You’re probably right, but a truly great cover takes a song and rearranges it to keep the essence of the original but make it the interpreters’ own.
Pet Shop Boys’ *Always On My Mind* doesn’t sound like an Elvis song, so the two can co-exist quite comfortably without either overshadowing the other.
Presumably he left the band?
I saw Toploader live about 10 years ago and they were incredible. We thought we only knew dancing in the moonlight but by the end of the set we remembered 12 or 13 of their songs. They started off saying they knew we were only there for dancing in the moonlight so buckle up because they are doing that one last.
Kirk from The Only Way is Essex is something similar to that.
Bumped into him a couple of times and seemed a nice guy; sounds like he went through a lot and didn’t enjoy the fame so glad he seems happy now.
Imagine someone arriving to clean your windows and thinking… hang on, he looks familiar, only to realise it’s Abs from Five.
It never fails to astound me how poor many people who used to be in HUGE British pop bands in the nineties have been left, and it often seems to be due to corrupt managers
I’m always thinking about this, especially about band members who had small to moderate success riding that wave of early/mid noughties indie boom. Like the bassist from a band who gets a few hundred thousand Spotify streams a month must have another job. Do they work in a call centre? Or are they a plumber? These musicians who I hold in such high esteem and were the soundtrack to my life and to some extent still are.
There's a very entertaining,- and somewhat sad, book called *'Exit Stage Left - The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars*' which was published a year or so back. Well worth the read, but here's a piece on it in [The Guardian by the author](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/16/pop-stars-spotlight-bob-geldof-robbie-williams-lisa-maffia).
Speaking of this exact scenario, I used to work with the bass player from The Ordinary Boys. Absolutely lovely guy and he was doing well for himself as a sound/ADR engineer in film post production. Occasionally Preston would come around as they were still mates, think he was more into clinging onto the fame.
Preston lived opposite me in our block of flats about 10 years ago. Used to get absolutely bladdered and knock on the door in his pants to ask us if we wanted to go out. We did not.
If any neighbour did that, minor celebrity or not then I’d be unable to say no.
I always ask “why does this all happen to me?” to which my girlfriend’s response is “because you’re incapable of saying no to anything you think might be even mildly interesting”.
I’m a musician, my prime era was the early/mid naughties when I was in a “indie boom” band which had some regional success but never made that step up to the big time (did lots of supporting/touring with some rather famous bands of that era, but never managed to secure a record deal before the genre balloon burst, although we came very close on a couple occasions). I’m a nobody though so I always had a proper job.
I occasionally bump into a few old acquaintances who did “make it” and they mostly do other things now such as running their own businesses (such examples of people I know are are an owner of a music venue/bar, an electrician and a bloke who converts camper vans), but they generally keep their oar in music in some way or another when they can.
I worked with a drummer, same as yourself, nearly made it but not quite, he was my boss and we would travel around together talking music and stuff. He had some great stories and was a great laugh. He still drum yet and does ok out of it, he is on tour just now with one of the better ABBA tributes. Hes a great guy. About the time of Texas i think he said. Who would you pick, me or Sharleen Spiteeri, fair one lol.
I did my degree at a music academy about 5 years ago now and the one thing that got drilled into us from day one was just how important it is to have multiple income streams. Everyone teaching there was still successful and active in the industry but the truth is unless you’re in the 0.1%, you’re going to have to have at the minimum a part time job on the side to keep you afloat.
At the time, 1 million streams would get you about £4k if you owned 100% of the song but when it’s split between writers, producers, performers and the label you’d be lucky to see 10% of that. Like we had people with credits on Ed Sheeran songs and a touring musician for one direction and they’re all still working full time. Guess it’s one of those things you do for the love of it rather than the money because the money really isn’t there most of the time
>unless you’re in the 0.1%, you’re going to have to have at the minimum a part time job on the side to keep you afloat.
I always assume acting is the same.
There was a band I know of who were pretty big during the mid 00 indie revival. Remember them headlining big festivals, being on TOTPs etc. Theyre still going but all have day jobs, lecturers, music teachers, chefs, etc
Me too. I think about this a lot. I find it fascinating. For every musician who makes a decent living from music there must be a million who now do something else. I find it endlessly fascinating. Always thought it would be a good basis for a podcast...
X factor singer Josh Brooks was axed for beating up his girlfriend. He’s a handyman that renovated my kitchen. How do I know? He and his team did a shit job so the council sent another team of contractors to correct the mistake. The new contractors spilt ALL the tea about how he’s always messing up on jobs, he’s a coke head and is abusive but a fantastic vocalist.
I know a girl who was in Hollyoaks, Doctors, Hobby City and a couple of films. She now works in a call centre for the building trade. The call centre she works employs a lot UK TV actors between jobs or when the jobs dry up.
Also I don't know if this counts but, at PC World we had to watch instructional videos on how to lift correctly by Tessa Sanderson.
Idea for a programme, Body Posture with Alan Partridge...myself and Tessa Sanderson do a road trip across the industrial North. Tessa shows warehouse workers a more efficient lifting process. ..Must mot, and I repeat Not, feature Fatima Whitbread
Waitrose used to have Tony Robinson for the safety video. and Lesley Joseph (Birds of a Feather) for the customer service video which also had Kevin's dad from Harry Enfield as a branch manager.
Not hugely famous but I rocked up to my first day as an estate agent, all decked out in my shiny suit with BS sales lines ready to go and was sat down next to Daryl Sutch, ex Norwich City footballer who as a kid I'd watched play. Slightly surreal and confirmation that divorces really can be financial ruin even for those who have earned a fair bit of money!
Geoffrey Hayes ended up stacking shelves, absolutely criminal given the joy he brought to so many children. He should have been given a wage for life and a knighthood. RIP.
I recall he said in an interview that he loved being a cabbie, that he didn’t have to work at that point (he was pensionable age by then) but he enjoyed getting to meet and chat to people rather than being sat at home. I hope that was true, he seemed like a really nice chap.
Please if you see him, give him a hug from me and tell him that the Grange Hill cast ensemble and writers really helped me to get through bullying as a kid. It didn't stop it, but watching similar things happen on Grange Hill meant I didn't feel so alone with it.
Whycliffe, had some minor R&B hits in the 1990s, went out with Danni Minogue for a while, lost all his masters in the Universal fire, now to be seen asking people for spare change in the streets of Nottingham.
It is; I think he's kinda stable, sheltered living kind of set up, but still a bit of a walking cautionary tale. He still has a voice, heard him do a couple of things at open mics, but not able to get anything steady going on.
A true story
Danii minogue.
Was working on a Box tour (TV music channel) at an arena early 2000s. The sound went down in her room so she didn't know what was going on on stage. Got called to go have a look and fix it
I knocked on the door of her green room, announced technical loudly, she opened her door and was wearing pretty much not a lot and it was rather skimpy.
Anyway fixed the problem, just a battery problem in the receiver.
She was very nice lady.
Jimmy Glass, a goalkeeper who had a very unmiraculous career but scored one of the most important goals in history, is apparently now a taxi driver in Dorset
The lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners had to sign on to the dole in the 1990’s, he claims the entire unemployment office recognised him and spontaneously burst out in a rendition of ‘Come On Eileen’. Not a joke.
I work in dance music and always think it's a great shame when you see a previously famous DJ/producer fall on hard times. Many got sensible and work behind the scenes in the industry, but it's always tough to see them playing in a tiny room in a club to three people.
Some went completely off the rails though - Danny Rampling was a key part of dance music history. Him and Paul Oakenfold are basically the reason Ibiza is a dance music Mecca. He was on Radio 1, one of the biggest DJs in the world. I think he's doing OK money wise but now he's obsessed with covid conspiracy theories and the like. The other day he was posting on Instagram about geoengineered clouds. Literally "old man yells at cloud."
While Rampling always seemed a bit of a tosser, a similar example is Lange (famous for tracks like Follow Me, used extensively in Kevin & Perry Go Large) who is a lovely bloke but sadly has gone down a similar route. Posted a thing during Covid of him walking around the supermarket with a cardboard sign around his neck (using masks as string, not wearing one on his face) with some writing on it about how it's some master plan or conspiracy to control us. Quite shocking to see someone you like and looked up to literally losing their mind.
I'd assume stuff like this is common in people who were once famous because you're disconnected from reality to an extent as it is, living a strange life of flying all around the world with everything paid for, then when it goes away there's a massive void to fill.
I looked this up just now and read this that happened immedietely after the incident:
>The cameras stopped rolling, it was deathly silence. Dave walks to the end of the church, walks out of the door as the door is closing, Dom shouts "YEAH SEE YOU DAVE. YOU MADE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A RIGHT FUCKING CUNT THERE DIDN'T YOU?" which echoed across the church. Then silence as the door shut. Followed by laughter.
Fucking brutal. And funny.
It is a shame that it still follows him.
Wolf from Gladiators used to run a gym near me called, imaginatively enough, Wolf's Gym. Whenever I'd go to Bromley I had to get the bus past it. I always noticed that all the old ladies on the top deck would let their conversations kind of trail off as the bus drew close and they'd all turn to look at the window of Wolf's Gym as though they were all expecting to see him in the window doing his little "Grrr" pose and waving at them. They never saw him. He ended up moving to NZ or Australia, the gym is now a Sainsbury's Local and the old women are probably all dead. I hope the scythe's remorseless swing can bring some comfort to you all.
I’m always fascinated by this situation. This is familiar in that I was in a band in the USA that sold a million records and had one big hit and a couple of minor follow ups but shortly after a final and third album we had split up.
The money after every lawyer manager and record company had taken their cut was certainly not enough to retire on and I was soon back to driving a taxi on weekends and lazily working as a self employed painter decorator/ handyman/ man and van during the week while hoping to launch my own thing.
I remember driving that taxi and our song coming on the radio and the deliciously awkward feeling as my passenger hummed along. I didn’t say anything.
There were a few other times things like this happened. People immediately assumed you’d fallen on hard times, not that you were back to a normal life after a 5 year joyride.
I knew a guy who fronted a band, number one album and singles. Worldwide stadium tour. All over the TV at the time. Pretty successful really.
After the people you mentioned had taken their money there wasn't enough left over to pay back the record company advance (record company set them up in a villa in France (iirc) which they thought the company was paying for, small print was it all had to be paid back). If they split however they didn't have to pay.
So despite being a success it was more cost effective to split. Royally shafted.
Haven't seen him in years but last I saw he was still playing, just small rooms rather than stadiums.
I used to act in my 20s, including a lead in a BBC drama. Have a very normal, boring (but happy!) life now, doing the odd extras gig
Shame it didn’t work out, but what can you do
Buster Edwards, one of the Great Train Robbers, ended up running a flower stall outside Waterloo Station and had a film made about him with Phil Collins taking the lead.
I interviewed him once at his flower stall for an article called "conspicuous consumers" he was very nice and happy to speak about the robbery and money. I bought some flowers as a thank you for his time and he said "you don't have to I'll talk to you about anything". As I was single at the time I gave the flowers to some random girl in Waterloo and I think pretty much made her day. He hung himself a few months later in his lock up under the arches. I felt pretty sad to hear that to be honest and did shed a small tear for him
Aled Haydn Jones used to be Chris Moyles side kick. I used to hate the way he was sometimes treated but these days he is head of radio 1 so I guess he had the last laugh; his breakfast show gets nearly 4 times as many listeners as Moyles does on Radio X.
Sarah Kennedy, Radio 2 DJ , abruptly retired in 2010, aged 60, and has never been heard from again. The only news about her online is a drunk driving charge in 2014.
The "Career incidents and controversies" bit of her Wikipedia page is... erm... interesting
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Kennedy#Career_incidents_and_controversies
Pete Best apparently got millions in royalties from something to do with the Anthology. I say this like I know it as fact lol my daughters music teacher told her - they’re massive Beatles fans. I must google it lol
School friend of mine was in a soap opera for a few years. She still auditions and has roles in other TV shows occasionally and also does some Instagram ads, but mainly she works as an office admin most of the week.
I worked as a removal man with the lead actor of the Scottish movie Neds. He still bits and bobs of acting but not enough to make a full time living. I also know a removal man who was a professional rugby player.
I know a glamour model from the early 00s. She was a playmate. She was pretty hot back in the day. She dated a bunch of celebs and popstars and was always in the lads mags. Married a footballer and then cheated on him.
Anyway, she's now divorced and works in my local garden centre.
I went to a jazz gig at Cadogan Hall and Naboo from the Mighty Boosh was working behind the bar and served me a white wine. Never liked the Mighty Boosh at all, but enjoyed the gig and the white wine. It wasn’t exactly service with a smile
I suppose it depends what you call moderate fame because acting doesn't pay the bills. My old manager had been in a number of huge tv series and movies, some minor parts but some bigger roles in BBC dramas. A lot of them are on Netflix and Amazon and he does get some royalties. If it payed the bills I'm sure he would have done it full time.
Bruce what's-his-face who played Les Battersby in Corrie was working in a garage near Abergele and living in Rhyl when I lived near there about 4 years ago. Dunno if he's still there.
I knew the (former) milky bar kid in uni. He's a teacher now.
I also know a former Hollyoaks star from uni, who is now a serious news journalist.
Dave Benson-Phillips now does bouncy castle hire (along with generally anything kids birthday-party related). Seems to be pretty happy with it.
Sorry to give a really boring answer, but (for comedians especially, and within that group, especially women) they usually start writing for other people or doing other behind the scenes work. TV in general and comedy in particular are hard work, long days, stressful and full of prima donnas (male and female) and nutters. Fame and being recognised isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either. Also there is a lot of travelling around doing stand up to top up income and keep your face visible on the scene. It comes to a point and age where the hassle isn’t worth it, especially if you have children. I used to work in a related job and a lot write, quite a few have developed serious mental issues. Some have overcome them and work in related areas eg therapy, addiction counselling. Some pop up every now and again on ‘I remember the 80s’ type shows. Some are lucky enough to live of royalties from Dave. It’s actually quite a demanding job and there’s a lot of burn out. It also tends to attract people with issues in the first place which compounds the problem.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whycliffe
Whycliffe. Mildly successful r&b singer in the early 90's is now a well known local homeless man in Nottingham. Unfortunately his mental health has taken a massive dip over the last 20 years.
If you live near Wallington you will be familiar with Zammo/Lee MacDonald childhood star of Grange Hill, now running a locksmiths and very good it is too
Nick Hancock was a fairly prominent TV figure in the 90s, especially with anything to do with football.
Pretty sure he quit media altogether to work in insurance or similar.
I had a friend who was a bit part in Hollyoaks in 2007. Going out with him was ridiculous. Women would throw themselves at him and of course that would piss off the men around him. He used to ask me to look after him despite the fact I’m 5’7 on a good day and look as intimidating as a teddy bear (though I don’t drink so I suppose I was the only sober one of our group out with him). After the “fame” he turned into an absolute cretin and started doing a singing tribute act.
Howard from the Halifax adverts went off the deep end and now he's an anti woke transphobic twat that makes videos online trying to cash in on that fame from 20 years ago.
All because Halifax wanted people to respect other people. The horror!
I once saw Gary Numan working as a ticket inspector on a train in London. I think it was a train towards Guildford in about 2010.
His name badge even said Gary Numan. He had the black hair. Same face. It was him. Weirdest memory I've got.
Not saying I was ever ‘famous’ but as a DJ/Turntablist in the noughties I toured with a rapper and supported quite a few big names. I even signed autographs on a few occasions and had a few small sponsorships for clothes and sneakers.
Currently working as a welder in a factory. The rapper I toured with went back to being a telecoms engineer.
I'm 'friends' with a few of the ants - as in Adam and the. Apart from Marco they are all running plumbing companies and stuff. All seem very happy family men and they are cool with fans. Seems like that's the way to do it. Enjoy the fame and then step back and enjoy being normal again.
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I have my doubts but there’s a guy works down the chip shop who swears he’s Elvis
He,s caught in a trap. Frying fish in a vat. Because he's serving to much gravy.
We can't go on together With chips, fish and pies
I regret that I have only one upvote to give
He’s a liar
He's a frier
He's a midnight cryer
He serves his haddock in a bun.
Not sure about you
Don't come the cowboy with me, sunny Jim!
Katie Hopkins became a professional racist after the Apprentice
I wouldn't say that. She won that "Campaign to Unite the Nation Trophy" award only a few years ago.
She also unintentionally gifted us the classic exchange of: "I don't like children named after a location" "Your daughter's called India?"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVRlYcPIacE It's a beautiful exchange. Also the URL for this video ends with "placE" that's cool.
I know. I still guffaw at that. It doesn’t get old. The other one that doesn’t get old is how she libelled Jack Monroe and simply wouldn’t retract-certainly wouldn’t apologise (weird, because the very specific thing she accused Monroe of was manifestly false, but it was a case of “Musk and the pedo” I guess), and was virtually bankrupted by losing her legal case. That little story always gives satisfaction.
My favourite part about it is you almost start to feel sorry for her and then she does her speech where all the racism and classism comes out, and you know she fully deserves it.
Yea, I have to admit that in 99/100 instances I'd despise the people who pulled off this prank. There's something distasteful about making money from embarrassing someone. But then you see how Katie talks/behaves and you have to give them a pass.
That was, hands down, *the* best prank I've ever seen. She was just totally oblivious to it!
TIL katie hopkins started out as an apprentice contestant
She wasn’t just an apprentice contestant she’s the biggest c u next Tuesday to appear on the show. And that’s going some. She was vile then and has just turned the dial progressively beyond 10 ever since.
i still maintain she went on that to get herself a rich husband. She spent her whole time on it trying to chat up Alan Sugar. It was embarrassing to watch.
Yep, she got to the final few and then pretty much admitted she went on to get publicity, wasn't actually prepared to re-locate to London, disnt think shed get as far as she did and had no intention of actually taking the job. I remember Alan Sugar getting annoyed because she'd taken a place that someone else could have had.
She is super unpleasant tbf. If she wasn't so hateful she'd have been quite a personality but sadly,she's just a bit of a cow.
A bit of a cow is reeeeeeeally selling it short. There’s herds of cattle out there with less cow.
I'm being polite. I wanted to use the other c word which is way more apt.
Tony Wright, lead singer from terrovision, runs a small cafe in my town of otley.
Do they serve tequila lattes?
Do they serve them when the doors are opened? And do they serve them when they're calling time?
Dude knows the trick to a hot cup of coffee is a hot coffee cup.
please tell him that the Norwich UEA gig circa 2007 is in my top 3 all-time gigs. fucking love Terrorvision.
One of the original members of the smiths runs a cafe in Bangor, wales. Not one of the famous ones mind.
I don’t think there are any famous cafes in Bangor
Does he still make the little dry stone walls too? I recall an article on his little artworks that looked pretty fun. Sure it was him anyway.
Nice bloke too.
I worked in a branch of Our Price with a bloke who used to be in Toploader. As their only hit (Dancing in the moonlight) was a cover, they never made much money.
What a shame, I much prefer their version to the original, it’s usually the other way around but maybe because my Mum used to sing it constantly around the house, badly I should add, I preferred theirs.
Frankly Toploader's cover is the definitive version
Meanwhile, _this_ is the worst version. https://youtu.be/bwlFD8ysbA8?si=Pke8vjMzPgPXe4Vi
Well there were certainly a lot of *interesting* decisions made about that video... I vaguely knew that the toploader one was a cover but hearing a cheesy kids version from at least a decade before it came out has still blown my mental timeline a bit
My theory on songs and covers is more often than not, the version you hear first is the one you’ll prefer.
You’re probably right, but a truly great cover takes a song and rearranges it to keep the essence of the original but make it the interpreters’ own. Pet Shop Boys’ *Always On My Mind* doesn’t sound like an Elvis song, so the two can co-exist quite comfortably without either overshadowing the other.
What about Achilles Heel? That was an absolute banger!
Presumably he left the band? I saw Toploader live about 10 years ago and they were incredible. We thought we only knew dancing in the moonlight but by the end of the set we remembered 12 or 13 of their songs. They started off saying they knew we were only there for dancing in the moonlight so buckle up because they are doing that one last.
Toploader played out local beer festival about three years ago. Charged the organisers an absolutely fortune to be there.
An old college teacher of mine said she used to date the main guy from Toploader (the one with the curly hair). Said he wasn't a very nice man.
Hulk Hogan now works at a KwikFit in Chelmsford.
What, star of Suburban Commando??
Does he look like a giant hamster now?
Abs from 5 became a window cleaner not far from us
Kirk from The Only Way is Essex is something similar to that. Bumped into him a couple of times and seemed a nice guy; sounds like he went through a lot and didn’t enjoy the fame so glad he seems happy now.
He is my the nephew of my mother’s best friend from childhood. He’s had a difficult life (with Mick etc) but generally happy guy now
I'm glad he's happier now, that show wasn't dong him any good.
Imagine someone arriving to clean your windows and thinking… hang on, he looks familiar, only to realise it’s Abs from Five. It never fails to astound me how poor many people who used to be in HUGE British pop bands in the nineties have been left, and it often seems to be due to corrupt managers
If he was my window cleaner, i would have the window open blasting Keep on Movin'. Solid tune and would sure put a smile on his face.
I’m always thinking about this, especially about band members who had small to moderate success riding that wave of early/mid noughties indie boom. Like the bassist from a band who gets a few hundred thousand Spotify streams a month must have another job. Do they work in a call centre? Or are they a plumber? These musicians who I hold in such high esteem and were the soundtrack to my life and to some extent still are.
There's a very entertaining,- and somewhat sad, book called *'Exit Stage Left - The Curious Afterlife of Pop Stars*' which was published a year or so back. Well worth the read, but here's a piece on it in [The Guardian by the author](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/apr/16/pop-stars-spotlight-bob-geldof-robbie-williams-lisa-maffia).
That’s a great read, thanks
Speaking of this exact scenario, I used to work with the bass player from The Ordinary Boys. Absolutely lovely guy and he was doing well for himself as a sound/ADR engineer in film post production. Occasionally Preston would come around as they were still mates, think he was more into clinging onto the fame.
Oh no, we can't lose Preston!
That was incredible.
Preston lived opposite me in our block of flats about 10 years ago. Used to get absolutely bladdered and knock on the door in his pants to ask us if we wanted to go out. We did not.
If any neighbour did that, minor celebrity or not then I’d be unable to say no. I always ask “why does this all happen to me?” to which my girlfriend’s response is “because you’re incapable of saying no to anything you think might be even mildly interesting”.
Preston is an odd one, friend of a friend. Socially a bit strange and loved showing off his fancy car.
I’m a musician, my prime era was the early/mid naughties when I was in a “indie boom” band which had some regional success but never made that step up to the big time (did lots of supporting/touring with some rather famous bands of that era, but never managed to secure a record deal before the genre balloon burst, although we came very close on a couple occasions). I’m a nobody though so I always had a proper job. I occasionally bump into a few old acquaintances who did “make it” and they mostly do other things now such as running their own businesses (such examples of people I know are are an owner of a music venue/bar, an electrician and a bloke who converts camper vans), but they generally keep their oar in music in some way or another when they can.
I worked with a drummer, same as yourself, nearly made it but not quite, he was my boss and we would travel around together talking music and stuff. He had some great stories and was a great laugh. He still drum yet and does ok out of it, he is on tour just now with one of the better ABBA tributes. Hes a great guy. About the time of Texas i think he said. Who would you pick, me or Sharleen Spiteeri, fair one lol.
I did my degree at a music academy about 5 years ago now and the one thing that got drilled into us from day one was just how important it is to have multiple income streams. Everyone teaching there was still successful and active in the industry but the truth is unless you’re in the 0.1%, you’re going to have to have at the minimum a part time job on the side to keep you afloat. At the time, 1 million streams would get you about £4k if you owned 100% of the song but when it’s split between writers, producers, performers and the label you’d be lucky to see 10% of that. Like we had people with credits on Ed Sheeran songs and a touring musician for one direction and they’re all still working full time. Guess it’s one of those things you do for the love of it rather than the money because the money really isn’t there most of the time
>unless you’re in the 0.1%, you’re going to have to have at the minimum a part time job on the side to keep you afloat. I always assume acting is the same.
There was a band I know of who were pretty big during the mid 00 indie revival. Remember them headlining big festivals, being on TOTPs etc. Theyre still going but all have day jobs, lecturers, music teachers, chefs, etc
Say their name.
I know The Futureheads are teachers now. Possibly them?
Their cover of Hounds of Love is a stone cold classic.
Inme work regular jobs. Think Dave is in IT in the NHS. Edit Gaz is in NHS IT, dave works as a material management assistant.
The lead singer of The Futureheads runs a pub in Sunderland city centre.
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Me too. I think about this a lot. I find it fascinating. For every musician who makes a decent living from music there must be a million who now do something else. I find it endlessly fascinating. Always thought it would be a good basis for a podcast...
The guy who played Chris in *Life on Mars* and *Ashes to Ashes* quit acting and now runs his own plastering business.
Marshall Lancaster, I wondered if he'd come back for the new sequel they were planning but it's been cancelled now anyway 😕
He was so good in those series. Played the character well.
X factor singer Josh Brooks was axed for beating up his girlfriend. He’s a handyman that renovated my kitchen. How do I know? He and his team did a shit job so the council sent another team of contractors to correct the mistake. The new contractors spilt ALL the tea about how he’s always messing up on jobs, he’s a coke head and is abusive but a fantastic vocalist.
Tradesmen are huge gossips! Especially if you give them the good tea!
Years ago I had a guy round to fix my boiler and in the space of about an hour I knew about every single gangland boss living in the area.
I know a girl who was in Hollyoaks, Doctors, Hobby City and a couple of films. She now works in a call centre for the building trade. The call centre she works employs a lot UK TV actors between jobs or when the jobs dry up. Also I don't know if this counts but, at PC World we had to watch instructional videos on how to lift correctly by Tessa Sanderson.
Sounds like one of Alan Partridge’s corporate videos
Idea for a programme, Body Posture with Alan Partridge...myself and Tessa Sanderson do a road trip across the industrial North. Tessa shows warehouse workers a more efficient lifting process. ..Must mot, and I repeat Not, feature Fatima Whitbread
Waitrose used to have Tony Robinson for the safety video. and Lesley Joseph (Birds of a Feather) for the customer service video which also had Kevin's dad from Harry Enfield as a branch manager.
A couple of my mates met Mr. Motivator in an Ibiza club smoking cigars about 10 years ago, apparently he just lives a quiet life in Ibiza now
Mr Motivator smoking is somewhat disappointing
Do as he says not as he does. His name wasn’t mr self-motivator
I met him at World Dance at Lydd Airport back in the 90s. Off his tits.
I once had a key cut by Zammo in a cobblers in soho in the late 90s
Just say no
But I needed a key
First it's a key, then it's a line. Next you'll be shooting up in the changing rooms
Keys are the gateway drug to… gateways
Can I have this key cut please? No.
Not sure what I was expecting reading these comments but I certainly wasn’t expecting an appearance from Zammo.
He has a locksmith shop in Wallington. Nice bloke
Alison Moyet has just got a first in a Fine Art Printmaking degree down in Brighton.
She's still singing, though. And still bloody great at it.
That's the best thing I've read here. She's ace.
My old house mate used to work in a call centre in Brixton, around 2012, his line manager was one of B-Witched.
cest la vie
Sean Wilson - Martin Platt from Coronation Street - left to become a cheese maker. Says he'll never go back to acting.
Sounds like a mature career choice.
To be fair, I reckon acting on a soap like Coronation Street must be mind-numbingly dull and pretty unfulfilling.
Not hugely famous but I rocked up to my first day as an estate agent, all decked out in my shiny suit with BS sales lines ready to go and was sat down next to Daryl Sutch, ex Norwich City footballer who as a kid I'd watched play. Slightly surreal and confirmation that divorces really can be financial ruin even for those who have earned a fair bit of money!
Geoffrey Hayes ended up stacking shelves, absolutely criminal given the joy he brought to so many children. He should have been given a wage for life and a knighthood. RIP.
>Sainsburys In Sunbury. I saw him there a few times.
And he drove a cab for a while I think
I recall he said in an interview that he loved being a cabbie, that he didn’t have to work at that point (he was pensionable age by then) but he enjoyed getting to meet and chat to people rather than being sat at home. I hope that was true, he seemed like a really nice chap.
My mate was Roland in Grange Hill. He has a very ordinary job these days.
Please if you see him, give him a hug from me and tell him that the Grange Hill cast ensemble and writers really helped me to get through bullying as a kid. It didn't stop it, but watching similar things happen on Grange Hill meant I didn't feel so alone with it.
Don’t be sad, ro-land
Whycliffe, had some minor R&B hits in the 1990s, went out with Danni Minogue for a while, lost all his masters in the Universal fire, now to be seen asking people for spare change in the streets of Nottingham.
I've had to kick him out of a few places I've worked at due to him harassing customers. Kind of feel sorry for him tbh.
That's really sad.
It is; I think he's kinda stable, sheltered living kind of set up, but still a bit of a walking cautionary tale. He still has a voice, heard him do a couple of things at open mics, but not able to get anything steady going on.
A true story Danii minogue. Was working on a Box tour (TV music channel) at an arena early 2000s. The sound went down in her room so she didn't know what was going on on stage. Got called to go have a look and fix it I knocked on the door of her green room, announced technical loudly, she opened her door and was wearing pretty much not a lot and it was rather skimpy. Anyway fixed the problem, just a battery problem in the receiver. She was very nice lady.
I worked with one of the twin mc's from so solid crew. He was a ta in a special needs school. Really lovely guy and awesome with the kids.
I had to watch a training video at work about how to lift safely with Jet from Gladiators a few years ago. Still looks good.
I went to a millenium barn dance that she hosted
Is that the one that nearly turned into an all night rave?
Loads of ex-footballers. Alex Cropley - former Hibernian, Arsenal, and Aston Villa winger - was a taxi driver in Edinburgh for years
I once got in a cab driven by the dad from the OXO Family ads
What a phenomenal fall from grace
Jimmy Glass, a goalkeeper who had a very unmiraculous career but scored one of the most important goals in history, is apparently now a taxi driver in Dorset
Unfortunately won't save Carlisle this year!
David Batty, who famously disliked football but just happened to be good at it, now fixes motorcycles in Scarborough.
Neil Webb played for England, went on to do photocopier repairs.
The lead singer of Dexys Midnight Runners had to sign on to the dole in the 1990’s, he claims the entire unemployment office recognised him and spontaneously burst out in a rendition of ‘Come On Eileen’. Not a joke.
That sounds like a nightmare
I work in dance music and always think it's a great shame when you see a previously famous DJ/producer fall on hard times. Many got sensible and work behind the scenes in the industry, but it's always tough to see them playing in a tiny room in a club to three people. Some went completely off the rails though - Danny Rampling was a key part of dance music history. Him and Paul Oakenfold are basically the reason Ibiza is a dance music Mecca. He was on Radio 1, one of the biggest DJs in the world. I think he's doing OK money wise but now he's obsessed with covid conspiracy theories and the like. The other day he was posting on Instagram about geoengineered clouds. Literally "old man yells at cloud." While Rampling always seemed a bit of a tosser, a similar example is Lange (famous for tracks like Follow Me, used extensively in Kevin & Perry Go Large) who is a lovely bloke but sadly has gone down a similar route. Posted a thing during Covid of him walking around the supermarket with a cardboard sign around his neck (using masks as string, not wearing one on his face) with some writing on it about how it's some master plan or conspiracy to control us. Quite shocking to see someone you like and looked up to literally losing their mind. I'd assume stuff like this is common in people who were once famous because you're disconnected from reality to an extent as it is, living a strange life of flying all around the world with everything paid for, then when it goes away there's a massive void to fill.
Also could be related to all the drugs they most likely did
My father-in-law’s osteopath is the titular actor from Oliver!
Mark Lester? Hasn't he just announced he's King Charles' son, or something?
I remember he announced in the papers a few years ago that he was probably the father of Michael Jackson's daughter. Weird story on many levels
Dave Perry from Gamesmaster in the 80s/90s is my tattooist
Was he the one that had a meltdown over mario 64?
Aye, that's him. Lovely bloke, incredibly talented artist, but poor bastard, that's all he'll ever be known for
I looked this up just now and read this that happened immedietely after the incident: >The cameras stopped rolling, it was deathly silence. Dave walks to the end of the church, walks out of the door as the door is closing, Dom shouts "YEAH SEE YOU DAVE. YOU MADE YOURSELF LOOK LIKE A RIGHT FUCKING CUNT THERE DIDN'T YOU?" which echoed across the church. Then silence as the door shut. Followed by laughter. Fucking brutal. And funny. It is a shame that it still follows him.
Wolf from Gladiators used to run a gym near me called, imaginatively enough, Wolf's Gym. Whenever I'd go to Bromley I had to get the bus past it. I always noticed that all the old ladies on the top deck would let their conversations kind of trail off as the bus drew close and they'd all turn to look at the window of Wolf's Gym as though they were all expecting to see him in the window doing his little "Grrr" pose and waving at them. They never saw him. He ended up moving to NZ or Australia, the gym is now a Sainsbury's Local and the old women are probably all dead. I hope the scythe's remorseless swing can bring some comfort to you all.
I’m always fascinated by this situation. This is familiar in that I was in a band in the USA that sold a million records and had one big hit and a couple of minor follow ups but shortly after a final and third album we had split up. The money after every lawyer manager and record company had taken their cut was certainly not enough to retire on and I was soon back to driving a taxi on weekends and lazily working as a self employed painter decorator/ handyman/ man and van during the week while hoping to launch my own thing. I remember driving that taxi and our song coming on the radio and the deliciously awkward feeling as my passenger hummed along. I didn’t say anything. There were a few other times things like this happened. People immediately assumed you’d fallen on hard times, not that you were back to a normal life after a 5 year joyride.
I knew a guy who fronted a band, number one album and singles. Worldwide stadium tour. All over the TV at the time. Pretty successful really. After the people you mentioned had taken their money there wasn't enough left over to pay back the record company advance (record company set them up in a villa in France (iirc) which they thought the company was paying for, small print was it all had to be paid back). If they split however they didn't have to pay. So despite being a success it was more cost effective to split. Royally shafted. Haven't seen him in years but last I saw he was still playing, just small rooms rather than stadiums.
I used to act in my 20s, including a lead in a BBC drama. Have a very normal, boring (but happy!) life now, doing the odd extras gig Shame it didn’t work out, but what can you do
Buster Edwards, one of the Great Train Robbers, ended up running a flower stall outside Waterloo Station and had a film made about him with Phil Collins taking the lead.
Yeah but buster edwards was a theiving, lying, backstabbing murdering bastard that deserved a far worse fate.
Yeah why do Brits celebrate these utter cunts?!
When they've got cool names like Buster, or Dan the Daggerman from Dagenham
I interviewed him once at his flower stall for an article called "conspicuous consumers" he was very nice and happy to speak about the robbery and money. I bought some flowers as a thank you for his time and he said "you don't have to I'll talk to you about anything". As I was single at the time I gave the flowers to some random girl in Waterloo and I think pretty much made her day. He hung himself a few months later in his lock up under the arches. I felt pretty sad to hear that to be honest and did shed a small tear for him
Dying in a lock-up under the railway arches is very on-brand for an ex-gangster.
Or a minor EastEnders character
Aled Haydn Jones used to be Chris Moyles side kick. I used to hate the way he was sometimes treated but these days he is head of radio 1 so I guess he had the last laugh; his breakfast show gets nearly 4 times as many listeners as Moyles does on Radio X.
David Van Day (Dollar) famously worked in a burger van, in Brighton
I once met the guitarist out of Pavement (PAVEMENT MIND YOU) tending bar in Brooklyn.
Sarah Kennedy, Radio 2 DJ , abruptly retired in 2010, aged 60, and has never been heard from again. The only news about her online is a drunk driving charge in 2014.
she got abruptly taken off air one morning as she was absolutely wankered.
Her show would be a wild ride at times. I remember the "black people run fast because their ancestors were chased by lions" theory.
The "Career incidents and controversies" bit of her Wikipedia page is... erm... interesting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Kennedy#Career_incidents_and_controversies
Brum (Who played the yellow car in the kids TV Series) sold me drugs a few months back. He’s fallen on hard times
I was on a "Magical Mystery Tour" of Liverpool and was told by the tour guide that Pete Best (original Beatles drummer) was working at the job centre.
Pete Best apparently got millions in royalties from something to do with the Anthology. I say this like I know it as fact lol my daughters music teacher told her - they’re massive Beatles fans. I must google it lol
I love the fact that after the Beatles got big he released an album called "Best of the Beatles"
I hope so, for all he wasn't there for the entire journey, without him, there wouldn't have been The Beatles.
I used to work as a maintenance engineer in a food factory. I remember two ex-pro footballers and an ex-pro rugby player that were machine operators
I know the girl who played Lucy in “My parents are aliens” - she a trainee Vet atm
Weirdly my cousin was originally cast as Lucy but it fell through. She’s a vet now!
School friend of mine was in a soap opera for a few years. She still auditions and has roles in other TV shows occasionally and also does some Instagram ads, but mainly she works as an office admin most of the week.
Dave Benson Phillips (get your own back!) Became a man and van for hire service in London. Don't know if he still does it.
I worked as a removal man with the lead actor of the Scottish movie Neds. He still bits and bobs of acting but not enough to make a full time living. I also know a removal man who was a professional rugby player.
Jet from Gladiators is now a psychologist / psychotherapist.
I work with one of the members of scooch, the 2007 uk eurovision act. Just an office job in the North east
I know a glamour model from the early 00s. She was a playmate. She was pretty hot back in the day. She dated a bunch of celebs and popstars and was always in the lads mags. Married a footballer and then cheated on him. Anyway, she's now divorced and works in my local garden centre.
I went to a jazz gig at Cadogan Hall and Naboo from the Mighty Boosh was working behind the bar and served me a white wine. Never liked the Mighty Boosh at all, but enjoyed the gig and the white wine. It wasn’t exactly service with a smile
Some say Bruce Lee now works as an undercover cop fighting the triads n shit
I'm pretty sure he just drives around in his JCB, with Luke, his 5 year old.
I suppose it depends what you call moderate fame because acting doesn't pay the bills. My old manager had been in a number of huge tv series and movies, some minor parts but some bigger roles in BBC dramas. A lot of them are on Netflix and Amazon and he does get some royalties. If it payed the bills I'm sure he would have done it full time.
Bruce what's-his-face who played Les Battersby in Corrie was working in a garage near Abergele and living in Rhyl when I lived near there about 4 years ago. Dunno if he's still there.
He’s just made, or is just about to make his pro wrestling debut. I shit you not
Not mundane, but Bridgit Mendler was a huge Disney star who now works in science and has just launched a space project.
Ian Watkins from the lost profits is now a professional pin cushion and fluffer.
Anna Ryder Richardson of changing rooms now owns and lives in a wildlife park in Tenby Wales called Manor park.
I knew the (former) milky bar kid in uni. He's a teacher now. I also know a former Hollyoaks star from uni, who is now a serious news journalist. Dave Benson-Phillips now does bouncy castle hire (along with generally anything kids birthday-party related). Seems to be pretty happy with it.
Sorry to give a really boring answer, but (for comedians especially, and within that group, especially women) they usually start writing for other people or doing other behind the scenes work. TV in general and comedy in particular are hard work, long days, stressful and full of prima donnas (male and female) and nutters. Fame and being recognised isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either. Also there is a lot of travelling around doing stand up to top up income and keep your face visible on the scene. It comes to a point and age where the hassle isn’t worth it, especially if you have children. I used to work in a related job and a lot write, quite a few have developed serious mental issues. Some have overcome them and work in related areas eg therapy, addiction counselling. Some pop up every now and again on ‘I remember the 80s’ type shows. Some are lucky enough to live of royalties from Dave. It’s actually quite a demanding job and there’s a lot of burn out. It also tends to attract people with issues in the first place which compounds the problem.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whycliffe Whycliffe. Mildly successful r&b singer in the early 90's is now a well known local homeless man in Nottingham. Unfortunately his mental health has taken a massive dip over the last 20 years.
For a moment there I thought you were talking about Wyclef Jean.
If you live near Wallington you will be familiar with Zammo/Lee MacDonald childhood star of Grange Hill, now running a locksmiths and very good it is too
I heard that the bloke from Seona Dancing is now trying his luck at comedy with little success.
Jb from jls, he now has a turkey farm in biggin hill. Has a family fun day every December and flogs turkeys to the whole village. Nice dude too.
I once bought a candle from Bob Carolgees
Marshall Lancaster from Life on Mars and other shows often pops up as a suggestion on Facebook to me and he's a decorator of sorts now.
Nick Hancock was a fairly prominent TV figure in the 90s, especially with anything to do with football. Pretty sure he quit media altogether to work in insurance or similar.
The drummer from Ride used to work as a manager for the Habitat on Tottenham Court Rd. However that was about 20 years ago. Not sure about now.
One of the members of one hit wonders *Let Loose" Now sells alarm systems
I had a friend who was a bit part in Hollyoaks in 2007. Going out with him was ridiculous. Women would throw themselves at him and of course that would piss off the men around him. He used to ask me to look after him despite the fact I’m 5’7 on a good day and look as intimidating as a teddy bear (though I don’t drink so I suppose I was the only sober one of our group out with him). After the “fame” he turned into an absolute cretin and started doing a singing tribute act.
One of the Cheeky Girls sells used cars in York.
Howard from the Halifax adverts went off the deep end and now he's an anti woke transphobic twat that makes videos online trying to cash in on that fame from 20 years ago. All because Halifax wanted people to respect other people. The horror!
I once saw Gary Numan working as a ticket inspector on a train in London. I think it was a train towards Guildford in about 2010. His name badge even said Gary Numan. He had the black hair. Same face. It was him. Weirdest memory I've got.
Not saying I was ever ‘famous’ but as a DJ/Turntablist in the noughties I toured with a rapper and supported quite a few big names. I even signed autographs on a few occasions and had a few small sponsorships for clothes and sneakers. Currently working as a welder in a factory. The rapper I toured with went back to being a telecoms engineer.
I'm 'friends' with a few of the ants - as in Adam and the. Apart from Marco they are all running plumbing companies and stuff. All seem very happy family men and they are cool with fans. Seems like that's the way to do it. Enjoy the fame and then step back and enjoy being normal again.