One of the breakout performers on the first season of Pop Idol in 2001, Rick Waller, left, and his singing career is now unrecognizable.
Pop Idol, one of the early noughties’ biggest telly sensations, only ran for two series but launched the careers of Gareth Gates and Will Young as well as Michelle McManus. It also catapulted Kent-born crooner Rik Waller to fame, who was a hot favourite to win the inaugural series of the reality singing competition. Back in 2001, a then 20 year old Rik wowed judges Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox with his stellar vocal prowess, securing a spot in the final ten. However, the singer’s journey was cut short due to a bout of laryngitis.
He did have some chart success with his rendition of Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You, which reached number six on the UK singles chart. He later released a cover of Something Inside (So Strong), and he signed a record deal with EMI, which is said to be worth around $ 400,000.
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Rik, 44, has appeared in various UK reality shows, including Celebrity Fit Club. Around this point, he left his record company, EMI, and he formed a band that signed with Red Admiral Records.
However, they canceled a planned tour and split up after disappointing ticket sales. Rik last appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks in February 2007 and made a comeback appearance on television in February 2007.
The singer’s voice was rumored to have lost its ability to sing songs after sustaining vocal damage, which in 2007 caused him to confess: “I can’t rely on it for 100% of my income. Talent doesn’t always pay off in the eyes of two people I have to consider right now.
Amidst a whirlwind romance, he found love with a Pagan woman and the pair were reportedly sketching out plans for a Pagan wedding ceremony. But their union came to an end amid whispers she had influenced Rik’s decision to step away from the limelight. In 2019 he went on to say he was ‘gutted’ that his fellow Pop Idol contestant, Michelle McManus, was married, writing on Facebook: “Gutted that Michelle McManus is married, but she looked gorgeous and wishing her all the best.”
In a candid conversation with the Daily Mail in 2013, Rik described the harsh reality of job searching as: “The most demoralizing thing I’ve ever had to do was stand in line at the Job Centre and be applauded as a failure.”
It’s an incredible stab in the back when you lose the ability to carry out your job that you’ve always done.
Rik continued, “I don’t make a lot of effort to talk to the press these days; it can be more trouble than it’s worth.”
He acknowledged that he could find solace in simpler things, saying, “I don’t know how anyone can be truly unhappy if you have food on the table and a roof over your head.”
The chart-topping days of 2014 were distant memories for Rik, who had reconnected with his people and moved back in with them. While also dabbling in the disco beats of his Dad’s mobile karaoke and disco venture, he secured a gig as a secondary school exam invigilator under the name Richard.
According to his Facebook page, the former singer is still an exam invigilator and lives in Leicester.
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Source: Mirror
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