Pop Idol star Rik Waller resides a really completely different life as of late, greater than 20 years after he rose to fame.
The singer from Kent wowed judges Simon Cowell, Nicki Chapman, Pete Waterman and Neil Fox together with his vocals again in 2001, when he was 20 years previous.
He turned a favorite to win the primary sequence of the truth singing competitors, and was catapulted to fame.
Sadly, he needed to pull out of the competitors, regardless of making it to the ultimate ten alongside the likes of Will Younger and Gareth Gates.
Rik was affected by extreme laryngitis, and his place within the present was as a substitute taken by Darius Danesh.
Regardless of the setback, he went on to attain two UK prime 40 hits with covers of I Will All the time Love You and (One thing Inside) So Sturdy, which featured in his 2002 album, From Now…
Nonetheless, simply 5 years later, Rik was compelled to stop singing and his profession got here to an finish after he reportedly misplaced his voice.
He later appeared on numerous TV programmes together with Superstar Match Membership in 2002, and briefly on By no means Thoughts the Buzzcocks in 2007.
He now lives a really completely different life away from fame, after changing into an examination invigilator in Leicester.
In 2013, Rik revealed he did run a cellular karaoke and disco enterprise which he toured venues together with his father in his spare time.
However he had modified his identify to Richard, and didn’t wish to be known as Rik, after feeling like folks considered him as a ‘failure’.
He advised The Every day Mail: ‘Essentially the most demoralising factor I’ve ever needed to do was queue up on the Job Centre and have folks take a look at me saying, “What a failure”.
‘While you’ve misplaced the power to do the job you’ve all the time finished, it’s an unbelievable stab within the again to search out persons are really laughing at you.
‘It’s why I don’t make a variety of effort to speak to the press as of late – it may be extra hassle than it’s value.
‘I used to be by no means attacked bodily however I had loads of folks come as much as me and be notably offensive.’
‘In the event you’ve bought a roof over your head and meals on the desk I don’t know the way anybody could be actually sad,’ he added.
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