Reality Stars Who Cashed In Big From Their 15 Minutes

[JamesG]

Maximizing Their 15 Minutes

Millions of people have seen Britain's Got Talent contestant Susan Boyle perform I Dreamed a Dream. But nobody yet is making money, not Susan herself, who is still a contestant, and certainly not Simon Cowell, who produces the show but doesn't get any ad dollars on the YouTube plays.

Some reality stars have been able to cash in, so click through our gallery of the lucky few who have scored success in the real real world.




Kelly Clarkson
Show: American Idol 1

Since winning the first season of the popular talent show, the Texas native has gone onto super-stardom. She has released four albums with over 20 million in sales. Clarkson has collected many awards including a pair of Grammy's.




Carrie Underwood
Show: American Idol 4

Since her 2005 debut, the top-selling former Idol has become a country music superstar with millions of album sales and sold-out concert dates.

Her top singles include Jesus Takes the Wheel and Before He Cheats. She just won the prestigious 'Entertainer of the Year' award at this year's Academy of Country Music Awards.




Chris Daughtry
Show: American Idol 5

Since finsihing in fourth place during season 5 of American Idol, Daughtry's band's debut album went 4x platinum and spawned hit singles like It's Not Over and Home. Their second album is due out this summer.




Jordin Sparks
Show: American Idol 6

The youngest Idol winner saw her self-titled debut album be certified platium in late 2008. Her top songs to date has been Tattoo and the Chris Brown duet No Air.

She also has recently sang at Barack Obama's Inaugeral Ball, the NFC Championship game and the NBA All-Star game. Stay tuned for an upcoming book in October and her sophomore album.




Clay Aiken
Show: American Idol 2

As the runner-up in Season 2 of Idol, Aiken easily outsold winner Rubben Studdard with his debut album Measure of a Man.

He has since released four more albums and a greatest hits collection. He has alsoappeared on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot and toured extensively.




Fantasia Barrino
Show: American Idol 3

Barrino turned her third season Idol win into a career with multiple albums and a lead role in Broadway's The Color Purple.

The single mother has a new album due in 2009, along with the leading role in the film adaption of The Color Purple and a new reality show in 2010.




Kelly Pickler
Show: American Idol 5

The sixth place finishing contestant on the fifth season of Idol followed Carrie Underwood into the world of country music. She has appeared in numerous shows and specials and is a rising star.




Ali Vincent
Show: Biggest Loser 5

Since taking the title of the first ever female to win The Biggest Loser, Ali Vincent has found numerous ways to cash in on her 15 minutes of fame.

She has landed gigs as a spokesperson for 24 Hour Fitness and Designer Whey Protein. She also regularly appears on QVC as a spokesperson for The Biggest Loser products.

In addition, she landed a book deal to publish an inspirational memoir. Its release date is scheduled for November 2009.




Rebecca Jarvis
Show: The Apprentice 4

After being the runner-up on the fourth season of Donald Trump's show, Jarvis who had a financial services background became a journalist.

She was hired by CNBC in 2006 and is a rising reporter and on-air anchor.




Jacinda Barrett
Show: The Real World: London (MTV)

She may have been on the one of the dullest Real World seasons, but her career has been gripping since then.

Now she's better known as an honest-to-goodness actress in movies such as Ladder 49, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Poseidon, The Last Kiss with Zack Braff, and The Namesake with Kal Penn.

While none of these were box-office bonanzas, she's still hitting solid base hits in the movie industry, which is more than a lot of her peers can say.




Judd Winick
Show: The Real World: San Fran (MTV)

After writing and drawing an award-winning graphic novel, Pedro and Me (2000), about his friendship with dying castmate Pedro Zamora, Winick (who married another castmate, Pam Ling) modernized comic book plotlines with yarns about HIV, persecution, and diversity.

Among the titles he's touched: DC's Green Lantern, Green Arrow, The Trials of Shazam, Batman, Outsiders, and Marvel's Exiles and Blink. He has created the Emmy-winning The Life and Times of Juniper Lee for Cartoon Network.




Elisabeth Hasselbeck
Show: Survivor: Australia (CBS)

In 2003, two years after coming in fourth, the former footwear designer for Puma beat out another reality show alum, Rachel Campos from The Real World: San Francisco, to fill the ingenue slot on ABC's zeitgeist-defining chat show The View alongside Barbara Walters.

In 2008, she became a spokesperson for Republican causes, appearing at rallies and wearing a self-designed pro-McCain tee-shirt that was sold on his campaign site for $47.

Bigger deals may be ahead: she's rumored to be on the short list for a Fox News show of her own.




Harold Dieterle
Show: Top Chef 1 (Bravo)

Dieterle is the only Top Chef winner to open a successful restaurant in the fierce culinary market of New York City.

Since 2007, the $100,000 winner has run Perilla, his own 18-table American-cuisine restaurant in Greenwich Village, where he prepares meals with seasonal ingredients and rarely makes appearances in the dining room.




Jennifer Hudson
Show: American Idol 3 (Fox)

Booted by popular vote (Fantasia Barrino was the eventual winner), she roared back in a different field -- acting-- and won an Oscar for Dreamgirls by playing Effie, probably the most coveted role for African-American female singers in a generation.

She followed that with a prime part in the Sex and the City movie, a spokesperson deal with Avon and in September, a return to singing when her debut album (on the same label as Whitney and Aretha) debuted at number 2 on the sales chart.




Bill Rancic
Show: The Apprentice (NBC)

He was the first contestant to avoid hearing the F-word from Trump, but the job he landed didn't amount to much.

Instead, he quickly wrote two best-selling books on entrepreneurism, You're Hired and Beyond the Lemonade Stand.

Last year, he co-hosted the dismal NBC daytime show In the Loop with iVillage with fellow contestant Ereka Vetrini.

These days, he hosts A&E's reality show We Mean Business and fetches more than $10,000 per speaking engagement.




Colby Donaldson
Show: Survivor: Australia (CBS)

The toothsome Texan took home $50,000 as his season's runner-up by playing second banana to mom-like Tina.

He then appeared in HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm. His Ken-doll looks guided him through a few more acting gigs, like Wes Craven's 2005 thriller Red Eye, shows ranging from Bones to JAG, and commercials for Schick razors.

Now he's appearing regularly on the syndicated Rachael Ray as the host's out-of-studio surrogate for segments on men, adventure sports, and personal growth.




Christian Siriano
Show: Project Runway 4 (Bravo)

The wunderkind plowed much of his $110,000 winnings into kick-starting his own fashion line, and it's paying off.

In 2008, he showed his spring collection at New York's Fashion Week, created the Fierce line for the trendy maternity label Moody Mommas, and costumed big names including Heidi Klum (as Emmys co-host), Whoopi Goldberg (for her Tonys hosting gig), and Uma Thurman (in her next movie, Eloise in Paris).

His dresses now sell for $2,500 each, he collects up to $20,000 per speaking gig, and LG Electronics inked a six-figure deal with him to promote its LG Lotus phone.




Austin Scarlett
Show: Project Runway 1 (Bravo)

The androgynous cast-off has gone on to win a stamp of approval independent of the reality world: he brings his classic sensibility to the market as the creative director of the glamorous Kenneth Pool bridal collection, which regularly charges upwards of $6,000 per gown.

"I definitely would love to design wedding dresses for the rest of my life," he has said. An occasional appearance as a talking head on the fashionista circuit keeps his media profile current.




Will Kirby
Show: Big Brother 2 and 7 (CBS)

He won season two and essentially handed Mike "Boogie" Malin the win for the show's all-stars season.

Now he's one of the plastic surgeons featured regularly on E!'s Dr. 90210 (in one episode he removed Boogie's genital warts).

He's also the medical director of the publicly-traded L.A. chain of Dr. Tattoff tattoo removal clinics (Brady Bunch'er Christopher Knight is an investor), which pulled in some $700,000 last year.

He also launched a a skin care line, Kirby Dermaceuticals (Daytime Anti-Aging Serum, $104 an ounce), and appears as a spokesman for Neutrogena on QVC.




Kristen Wiig
Show: The Joe Schmo Show (Spike)

After her reality-show debut as a quack doctor, she joined NBC's Saturday Night Liv" in 2005 and ascended to her current status as the show's top female talent, playing signature characters such as The Target Lady, movie critic Aunt Linda, lesbian TV reporter Michelle Dison, and braggart Penelope.

Ratings this season have hit 14 million, a 14-year high. She's also a dry-as-dust presence in comedy films including Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Knocked Up, Ghost Town and the upcoming Mike Judge movie Extract.




Bethenny Frankel
Show: The Apprentice: Martha Stewart

It turns out she dodged a bullet by not being hired by Martha Stewart on the low-rated prime-time competition.

Now she's on the buzzy Housewives even though she's neither a housewife nor married, she's parlaying her profile into an empire as a natural foods expert.

She was hired as a spokesperson for Pepperidge Farm's Baked Naturals products, sells a line of vegan cookies, and next March, her weight-loss guide, Naturally Thin, will be published -- part of a reported six-figure, three-book deal with Touchstone Fireside. Take that, Martha!


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[jimpickens]

Mike Mizanin aka The Miz in the WWE

[tanquant]

New York from the flavor of love

[cleverfun3000]

[catlover79]

Jon and Kate and the 8 kids...you can't go anywhere without hearing about them!

[browneyes106]

^I agree I'm already tired of hearing about them.