Celebs with drastically different careers after ditching fame
When you're at the top of your game as a celebrity, regardless of whether you're acting, singing, or dancing, job offers will likely pour in from all directions. But it's only natural that at some point, the opportunities may begin to dry up and you'll find yourself wondering what to do next.
This is something that a number of famous faces have experienced and as such, they've had to find alternative ways to pay the bills. While others simply decided that life in the limelight wasn't for them and turned their back on fame for a quieter, more regular career.
From setting up wellness retreats, retraining as cheesemakers and travelling around with their own food trucks, a number of celebs have left their old lives behind to try their hands at all sorts of things. Here's a look at a few of the big career changes that might surprise you...
Ray Winstone
Earlier this month it was revealed that Ray Winstone was living a very different life in Italy after his acting work had dried up due to the Writer's Strike in Hollywood. The 66-year-old Cockney star, best known for his role in Sexy Beast, had swapped being in front of the camera for labour work and the simple life at his home in Sicily.
Winstone is also said to have given up smoking and is further improving his health and fitness with manual labour near his mountaintop property.
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He said: "I've been doing a bit of labouring out here, a bit of graft. I hurt my back a couple of years ago, so I've been building my back up a little bit.
"There's a writers' strike on at the moment, so that’s affecting a hell of a lot of stuff in my game. I've just been having a bit of time off. I'm just enjoying being lazy. It's fine."
Ray is trying his hand at some manual labour amid the Hollywood writer's strike (AENetworks)Charlotte Church
Charlotte Church became a sensation in 1997 when at the age of just 11, she called This Morning and sang Pie Jesu down the telephone to the nation. Nine years later, she had experienced the full rollercoaster of fame, selling millions of records, touring the world and enduring intense scrutiny - including a disturbing media countdown to mark her reaching the age of consent at 16.
After going through the highs and lows of fame, Church is now living a very different life in the Vale of Glamorgan with her husband Jonathan Powell and kids Ruby, Dexter and Frida.
Instead of singing to crowds of adoring fans, she now runs a wellness retreat called The Dreaming, which offers a range of price points and one "pay what you can space". The retreat features sound baths, immersion in nature and a number of hearty, homemade vegetarian meals.
Charlotte Church has opened a wellness retreat (Rekha Garton)As well as turning her back on the spotlight, she's also seemingly given up her smartphone after finding herself struggling with the desire to constantly check everything on the device. She told The Mirror: "I got a little Nokia and I loved it. It's unbelievable the amount of headspace that you reclaim when you stop scrolling. I really want someone to make a dumb phone that's just maps and WhatsApp.
"When I'm at The Dreaming I’m pretty much offline – there's no wifi and barely any signal here. And on a Sunday, I'll just put my phone in the corner of the kitchen and say, 'I am not doing that today' and abstain. It's about reclaiming time and space and energy – and we could all do with more of those."
Brendan Cole
Brendan Cole is best known for his dance moves on Strictly as the 'bad boy' of the ballroom but left the show in 2018. The 47-year-old left the UK with wife Zoe and their daughters Aurelia and Dante but their move hasn't all been smooth sailing as they've had to live in a tent while they wait for their new home to be completed.
It's not clear yet what job Brendan will be doing while living abroad, but the former Strictly Pro described the move as a "moment of madness".
Brendan and his family have moved to Spain (Instagram)
He has been living in a tent and claimed the move was a 'moment of madness' (Instagram)Mark Feehily
After 14 years together, Westlife announced an "amicable" split back in October 2012. Following the split, band member Mark Feehily's life looked very different from his time on stage singing.
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He launched his own catering van business and began travelling around selling crepes and coffees at festivals. "People were flabbergasted at the fact that I was in the van making crepes," the Irish singer told Today FM's Eoghan McDermott at the time.
He continued: "It's my business and I love it, anything I get involved in I get involved 110%. A couple of Irish people came up and were like 'Wait a minute, what are you doing in a van?' I love festivals, so why not?"
Feehily started out with crepes but planned to go on to sell cocktails and tapas as well in the future. However, the limelight beckoned once again in 2018 when Westlife reunited.
The band are still together and have been touring the country. The 42-year-old unfortunately, is set to miss some of the summer gigs they have planned though as he told fans that he needs to urgently undergo surgery.
Mark opened up a food truck after Westlife split in 2012 (mirror.co.uk)Sean Wilson
For 21 years, Sean Wilson was a firm fixture on our TV screens as he played Martin Platt on Coronation Street, but eventually, he decided enough was enough and he embarked on a very different career path.
After leaving the show, Wilson became a chef and has worked in a number of Michelin-starred restaurants, but perhaps most interestingly of all in 2009 he set up the Saddleworth Cheese Company and began making award-winning cheese, with his products being stocked in Asda.
He's since released his own book, The Great Northern Cookbook and also returned to the school in Nantwich, Cheshire, where he learnt his trade as a lecturer in a bid to pass on his cheese expertise. Outside of cooking, Wilson made a brief return to the Corrie cobbles in 2019 when Martin came to help his son David.
Sean Wilson started his own cheese business (Penny Cross / Plymouth Live)Frankie Muniz
In the noughties, Frankie Muniz was all over our TVs as he starred in Malcolm in the Middle as well as movies such as Big Fat Liar and Agent Cody Banks. But after starring in the box office flop, Extreme Movie, he decided to put acting on hold and try his hand at something else.
Muniz instead became a professional race car driver in 2008 and decided to do that for a few years, before returning to acting. "I really love racing and this is what I want to do right now and for the next two years," he previously told BBC News.
The Malcolm in the Middle star has become a professional racing driver (Getty Images)His dreams of making it big in the racing world seemed to come crashing down in 2009 when he claims he broke his back in a driving accident. "I had a crash and broke my back and injured my hands and ribs," he admitted while taking part in the US version of Strictly, Dancing With The Stars.
He went on to say that he had the body of a "71-year-old" and revealed that he'd been suffering from mini-strokes throughout his life. Between 2012 and 2014, the former child star then switched things up again and took on the role of drummer in pop-rock band KINGSFOIL, before briefly returning to acting.
Since then it seems his racing dream is back on track as he joined NASCAR as a full-time Rette Jones Racing driver at the start of 2023.
Jimi Mistry and Flavia Cacace
The pair found love after Strictly Come Dancing (Instagram)Actor Jimi had starred in a number of films and TV shows including East Is East and Ella Enchanted before deciding to retire from the profession, shunning celebrity life in favour of a move to the countryside.
Along with his wife, former Strictly pro Flavia Cacace, the pair moved from Surrey to North Devon where they run their own farm, and Jimi has retrained as a chef. The couple also launched their own personal training and nutrition business.
Tony Discipline
Tony found fame on EastEnders, but recently became a firefighter (BBC)Tony Discipline played Alfie Moon's cousin Tyler Moon in EastEnders from 2011 to 2013, garnering a number of fans along the way. However, since his stint on the show he has tried his hand at a number of jobs, including becoming a firefighter with the London Fire Brigade.
He's also the co-owner of the Tipsy Trailer Bar UK, which is a converted trailer that operates as a travelling bar serving drinks at events such as weddings. But it doesn't look like Tony is completely out of the acting game, as his Instagram bio claims he's still signed as an actor to CBL Management.
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