Exclusive
pop off
Where are your favourite noughties pop stars now? From Vengaboys to Blazin’ Squad and The Cheeky Girls
Have you been wondering whatever came to be from your favourite Noughties pop stars? Well wonder no more!
In celebration of the hot new Netflix movie, I Used To Be Famous, Radio 2's movie man James King looks back at some of the 00s biggest pop stars and explores what they're doing now.
11
11
The film follows Vince, played by Ed Skrein of Deadpool fame, who used to be in the hottest and most popular boyband of all time.
Now he’s alone and desperate but an impromptu jam with Stevie (played by newcomer Leo Long), an autistic drummer with an incredible gift for rhythm, sparks an unexpected friendship and the power of music allows the two to form a unique and incredible bond.
I Used to Be Famous brilliantly captures the highs of being a pop star and the slower pace of life once that’s gone.
Some people choose to change, keen to leave the pressures of being in the spotlight while others have it taken away from them.
Read More on Netflix
Whatever the reasons, the path singers take when the hit records stop or the talent show ends will always be fascinating.
These are often people we’ve grown up with, who we feel like we know. We don’t want to let them go completely.
Clay Aiken
11
As runner-up on American Idol in 2003, Aiken scored the biggest single in the US that year with ‘This is the Night’. He’s now swapped the politics of the entertainment world for real politics, having worked for UNICEF and run for several positions with the Democratic Party.
Kenzie
11
Blazin’ Squad’s heartthrob James ‘Kenzie’ MacKenzie appeared on numerous reality shows after his time in the charts, as well as forming a boyband supergroup alongside Adam Rickitt, Gareth Gates, Dane Bowers and Kavana. He currently works as an in-demand personal trainer and fitness model.
Most read in Streaming
The Cheeky Girls
11
Gabriella and Monica - the Transylvanian twins from Pop Stars: The Rivals - were both recently reported to be working at car dealerships in the north of England although their most recent single ‘Let’s Have Fun’ was released earlier this year.
Rik Waller
11
One of the best known stars from ITV’s original Pop Idol series was employed as an exam invigilator following his pop career. He currently works for a popular food delivery service, happy to be out of the limelight.
Jas Mann
11
The hits dried up for Jas’s band Babylon Zoo after ‘Spaceman’ spent 5 weeks at No.1 in 1996, powered by its inclusion in a TV ad for jeans. After some time in India, he now runs recording studios in Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic.
Ian Dench
Ian and his band EMF had one of the most recognisable hits of the 90s in ‘Unbelievable’, a US No.1. Ian has since worked in A&R for Epic Records and written songs for artists you might just have heard of: Beyoncé, Shakira and Florence & the Machine.
Sam Chapman
11
Just like S Club 7 a few years later, Sam’s band North & South also had their own CBBC show, No Sweat, leading to hit singles such as the brilliantly-named ‘Tarantino’s New Star’. Sam has now swapped boyband fame for life as a music teacher in Leicestershire.
Sarah Davies
11
Hepburn made it big in 1999 with Natalie Imbruglia-esque hit ‘I Quit’. And that’s exactly what Sarah did a year or so later, waving goodbye to Hepburn to rise up the ranks of the police force in the Midlands.
Roy den Burger
11
Also known as ‘the cowboy from The Vengaboys’, Roy decided to hang up his chaps and now works as a flight attendant for Dutch airline KLM (as well as moonlighting as a drag act in Rotterdam).
Andrez Harriott
11
Damage might be best known for featuring Emma Bunton’s husband-to-be Jade Jones but they also sold over two and half million records around the world. Whilst Andrez still performs with the band he now dedicates much of his time to youth justice, working with vulnerable young people facing significant challenges in their lives.
Topics