Pop stars who quit fame for normal jobs from Cheeky Girls flogging old cars to an X Factor runner-up who’s now a binman
THE demands of fame are tough for even the most seasoned stars to handle.
So it’s no wonder some celebs choose to pack it all in and return to the nine to five lifestyle.
This week it emerged the second half of the Cheeky Girls act, Gabriella Irima, has joined her twin sister in selling second hand cars.
She works at a Hyundai dealership in York, while Monica is a sales executive for the same brand 100 miles away in Lincolnshire.
The Romanian-born double act hit the headlines when they auditioned for Popstars: The Rivals in 2002 with a song their mum Margit wrote in half an hour.
They were an overnight sensation and their single - Cheeky Song - went on to sell 1.2million copies worldwide.
They had four top ten hits between 2002 and 2004, sang in front of 100,000 strong crowds and travelled the world in business class.
They're not the only pop sensations who have since traded the limelight for a more regular job.
For some household names, gone are the days of choreographed dance routines and swarming starry-eyed fans.
Here we take a look at the former singers who have ditched fame for a slice of normality.
Andy Abraham
Andy Abraham rose to fame as The Singing Binman after finishing second place in The X Factor behind Shayne Ward in 2005.
The 57-year-old released four albums after his debut on the ITV show, but revealed last year that he’d decided to return to his old job collecting rubbish.
Andy, from North London, told he chose to go back to bin collecting after all his gigs were cancelled due to the pandemic.
"I can never switch off. Even when I’m with Steps, rehearsing or shooting a video, I’ll be working on my laptop. It’s become a bit of a running joke. I have to flip between my Steps hat and principal hat, which can be really hard and stressful at times."
While she focuses on the "day-to-day running of the school" and the business side, her husband is the school's creative director and main teacher.
Despite setting up the school, Lisa hasn't completely turned her back on her popstar days, as Steps reformed in 2017 for a second time.
The much-loved band have sold a huge 20million albums worldwide since finding fame in the late '90s.
Tinie Tempah
He may be the most successful British rap artist in UK chart history, but Tinie Tempah has now turned his hand to property.
The London born rapper is drawing on his property expertise to present Channel 4’s Extraordinary Extensions.
He said: “At the start of the pandemic, the music industry got hit really, really hard.
“Obviously, there were no gigs. I was in the studio at home, scratching my head.
“I got this phone call, ‘We’re doing this property show, and we would love you to do it’.
“At first, I was like, ‘I don’t know…’ But I’m at the age now where I want to communicate other sides of myself.
“I’ve been making music since I was 16-years-old. I’ve achieved a lot. But I feel like this is a new challenge.”
JB Gill
Most people will recognise JB Gill from boyband JLS, who stormed into the spotlight on The X Factor back in 2008 where they finished in second place to series winner Alexandra Burke.
The band - also made up of Aston Merrygold, Marvin Humes and Ortise Williams - split in 2013 and since then JB has swapped his performer boots for wellies and turned to farm life instead.
He and wife Chloe Tangney bought a turkey farm in Sevenoaks, Kent, and JB - originally from Croydon in South London - loves rural life.
"But whilst I had a manager in show business, when you run a farm, you need to keep on top of everything. Thankfully Chloe is a huge support."
JLS are due to have a reunion tour this summer.
Mark Feehily
Westlife star Mark Feehily may have 12 albums to his name and forged a solo career following his time in the Irish boyband, but he's also now the proud owner of his own catering company.
Mark serves up coffee and crepes from a van and said in 2015 that business was booming for his new venture.
Speaking on Today FM he revealed: "It's going really well, we've got loads of interest and we've booked it in with a lot of the music festivals and we're talking about doing some Irish ones as well.
"People were flabbergasted at the fact that I was in the van making crepes. People kind of have this thing 'Oh, he was in Westlife a few years ago and now he's making tea'."
Mark added: "It's my business and I love it, anything I get involved in I get involved 110 per cent."
Ray Quinn
X Factor runner-up Ray Quinn, 32, turned to carpet fitting after the coronavirus pandemic forced the singer to cancel all of his gigs.
The singer and former Dancing on Ice star joined his brothers in the carpet fitting business.
Swapping the red carpet for laying carpets, Ray said: “Dad knew I was going to help Rob and encouraged me to do it – but laughed when I said I’d lifted my first tool.”
Ray, who lives in Liverpool, became a household name after coming second to Leona Lewis on The X Factor in 2006, age 17.
He also won ITV’s Dancing on Ice in 2009 and the All Stars series in 2014.
Kevin Jonas
Kevin Jonas is best known for being one third of The Jonas Brothers - a Disney star and singer alongside his two brothers Joe and Nick.
While Joe and Nick have gone on to have solo careers, you can find Kevin throwing himself into being a building consultant.
When The Jonas Brothers decided to take some time out from music, Kevin eyed up a career in real estate and launched a construction business specialising in home building, improvement and renovation.
In 2014, he was seen on camera on the Real Housewives of New Jersey as at the time, he was brought in as the lead contractor working on housewife Kathy Wakile's new home.
Brian May
After nearly four decades playing guitar in one of the most iconic rock bands of the last century, Brain May returned to his doctorate in astrophysics in the early 2000s.
The founding member of Queen - who wrote hit songs including We Will Rock You and I Want It All - broke off his PhD in astronomy when Queen rose to fame in the 1970s.
But in the 2000s, Brian, now 74, quietly returned to his doctorate on the Motions of Interplanetary Dust at Imperial College, London.
He gained his doctorate there in 2007.
Musing on the switch from lead guitarist to interstellar boffin, Brian, born in Hampton, said: “I always had a passion for astronomy right alongside the passion for music. There was always that kind of yearning feeling, ‘Wouldn’t it be nice.'”
The much-loved guitarist has also been a lifelong advocate of animal welfare and set up the Save Me campaign to help protect British animal wildlife.
Particularly fond of hedgehogs, Brian also set up the Amazing Grace charity in 2020 to help find habitats for the prickly creatures.
Bruce Dickinson
Heavy metal favourite Bruce Dickinson, 63, took to the skies as a pilot after leaving the world-famous band Iron Maiden.
The lead singer, from Worksop, left the group in 1993 amid growing tensions between the five members.
Dickinson had learnt to fly recreationally in Florida in the 1990s, winning his airline transport pilot’s licence.
He went on to join the now-defunct British airline Astreaus as a captain and often flew Boeing 757s, becoming the company’s Marketing Director in 2010.
She was inspired to help others with their fitness goals after losing an impressive three-and-a-half stone and told fans at the time: "I’ve taken all the good and the bad of my experience so far, combined it with the knowledge of professional PTs and nutritionists, and created this program.
"It is NOT a quick fix or focussed on weight-loss. It is focused on YOUR goals, whether that’s to be fitter, faster, happier, thinner, bigger, leaner or just for something to do! It’s all you."
Natasha Hamilton
Atomic Kitten's Natasha Hamilton has enjoyed years of girlband success after finding fame in 1998 alongside Kerry Katona and Liz McClarnon.
Multiple reunions over the years have seen the girls continuing to tour, but when the pandemic hit last year, Natasha decided to look at other ways to make herself an income.
Not only has she now qualified as a therapist in Unconscious Mind Therapy, but she's also kick-started her own home-based business in health and wellness with Ketone supplement company Pruvit.
Now you can find Natasha leading coaching and reflection sessions online.
Abz Love
Abz Love may have sold 20 million records as the lead singer of 5ive, but the country life didn't work out quite so well.
The 42-year-old singer from Hackney, East London, quit life on the stage to start a farm in Wales seven years ago.
But last year Abz, whose real name is Richard Breen, revealed he’d ditched his rural dream.
He admitted: “The animals just all died, the plants weren’t growing any more - I’m a rubbish farmer. There was another plan for me, so I’m back in London.”
The singer, who starred in the BBC2 documentary Country Strife: Abz On The Farm, is now trying to restart his singing career.
Last year he formed supergroup Boyz On Block with fellow Nineties and Noughties legends Shane Lynch, from Boyzone, Another Level's Dane Bowers, and Ben Ofoedu from Phats & Small.
Frankie Cocozza
"I have no regrets. I performed live on TV in front of 14 million and that's such a great thing to tell people," he said.
"I didn't have to have a real job for a long time after the show, and me and my mates had the best time."
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Frankie, who is now married and has a child, added: "I love being on the building site. I get so much grief, but it's a crease up.
"I knock up pug for the plasterers. It's fun. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning."