Look, we get wanting to step away from the label of "reality star" and trying to branch out career-wise but we'll be honest, if you can't sing... don't try and launch a music career.
Admittedly a few people on our list can actually sing, but one barely successful single does not a music career make.
Here are a selection of the UK reality stars who have tried (and in many cases, failed) to launch music careers from Love Island's Paige Turley to TOWIE's Kirk Norcross.
CHECK OUT 11 reality stars who tried to launch music careers
Reality Stars Who Tried to Launch Music Careers
1 of 11Paige Turley
Following in her famous ex Lewis Capaldi's footsteps, Paige released a remix of Movin' Too Fast with The House & Garage Orchestra back in 2020 after wowing Love Island viewers with her powerful pipes during the talent show but we haven't had any new music from her yet despite her hints there was more to come on Instagram.
2 of 11Wes Nelson (and the rest of No Love Lost)
In 2019, Love Islanders Wes Nelson, Samira Mighty, Eyal Booker and Zara McDermott joined together to form No Love Lost for The X Factor: Celebrity, eventually finishing in 8th place. Since then however, Wes has managed to carve out a pretty successful solo career and in 2020 he released the absolute bop that is See Nobody which reached number three on the UK charts. He's even collaborated with Clean Bandit and recently released a new track titled Say Nothing.
3 of 11Lauren Goodger
Lauren Goodger was not someone we thought would make this list but apparently, back in 2004, she auditioned for The X Factor with Jess Wright as part of the band Ruby Blue. In an interview in 2011, Lauren revealed that she had always dreamed of becoming a popstar and admitted, "If I could come back and do it all again, I'd love to be a solo popstar".
4 of 11Jasmin Walia
Well, this a blast from the past! You may have been wondering what happened to Jasmin after she left TOWIE in 2015... turns out she's been carving out a pretty successful music career for herself. In 2017, her single Boom Diggy with Zack Knight peaked at number one on the BBC Asian Network's Official Asian Music Chart. As a result of that song, she was nominated for a Mirchi Music Award for Upcoming Female Vocalist of The Year at the 11th Mirchi Music Awards and the song was also nominated for Mirchi Music Award for Song of The Year. Jasmin even performed at Nick Jonas' wedding to Priyanka Chopra in 2018.
5 of 11Chanelle Hayes
In 2008, the Big Brother star starred in a reality series called Chanelle: Wannabe Popstar which charted her progress as she attempted to make a debut single and music video. The resulting single I Want It pretty much flopped, only reaching number 63 in the UK music charts, and that was the end of her music career.
6 of 11Jess Wright
In 2012, Jess signed a three-single deal with All Around the World releasing Dance All Night which peaked at number 36 on the UK singles chart. Jess later released Dominoes featuring Mann and Come With Me, but neither of them fared much better tbh. Jess has also auditioned for The X Factor twice and took part in Celebrity Karaoke Club in a bid to re-launch her singing career.
7 of 11Gemma Collins
Despite numerous rumours of a track with Naughty Boy, the only single that Gemma has ever released is a charity cover of Baby It's Cold Outside with her Celebrity Big Brother housemate Darren Day.
8 of 11Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay
Remember Little Bit Leave It? Love Islanders Kem and Chris actually released that track back in 2017. Although the song peaked at Number 15 on the UK charts, they haven't released a single together (or separately) since.
9 of 11Kirk Norcross
In 2014, the former TOWIE star released a version of Bill Wither's hit Ain't No Sunshine and although it didn't do very well, N-Dubz star Dappy (remember this was in 2014) apparently had a lot of love for it and called it "amazing".
10 of 11Megan McKenna
Arguably the only individual on this list who has successfully managed to have a singing career, winning The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019 and releasing her own album in called Story of Me in 2018. She also recently released a Christmas single called Family At Christmas.
11 of 11Holly Hagan
After a video of Holly singing City High's What Would You Do? with Geordie Shore co-star Charlotte Crosby went viral, Holly released a cover of Kelis' hit single Milkshake with a Clubland twist. While Kelis' version of the song was nominated for a Grammy, Holly's version sadly wasn't. Just what were the judges thinking, eh?
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It seems a shame to have grouped Megan McKenna in with some of this lot because some of her tracks are actually really good.
So good that she actually performed at Isle of Wight Festival earlier in 2021 and her UK tour is confirmed for later this year.
Megan released her debut album Story of Me in 2018 and managed to peak at number four in the UK Country Music Chart.
The two lead singles from the album, High Heeled Shoes and Far Cry From Love, are bops and well worth a listen tbh.
WATCH Megan McKenna on quitting reality TV to pursue a music career
Wes Nelson has also done rather well for himself after signing a major label record deal with EMI Records last August. At the time, the 2018 Islander said, “I am the happiest man on the planet! I have just signed my first record deal with @universalmusicgroup @emirecords 🙏🏾😆. Anyone who knows me knows this is my biggest dream and I’m so fvcking proud! I’d like to thank my managers @rzk_rnr and @so.empire + the Label for giving me the opportunity. I’ve got a great team around me, this is just the start!”
He's released three solo singles including his latest release Say Nothing which was reportedly inspired by his current girlfriend Lucciana Beynon and also collaborated with Clean Bandit on their song Drive. They’re all bops, if you ask us.