Celebs who hit rock bottom and ended up homeless – from Corrie star living in caravan to EastEnders legend on £57 a week

CELEBRITIES seem like they have it all - but these unfortunate stars prove it can all come crashing down.

Not long ago Jake Roche had a number one single with the pop band Rixton and was engaged to Jesy Nelson.

But the actor and singer - who appeared in Emmerdale in 2010 - admitted this week he is worlds away from his old life and dubs himself a "failure".

Jake - the son of Coleen Nolan and her ex-husband Shane Richie - has revealed he’s living off Universal Credit and staying in his mum’s garage.

Sadly he’s not the first TV star to end up on the dole and homeless, as we reveal…

Bruce Jones

Coronation Street legend Bruce Jones played Les Battersby from 1997 to 2007 - when he left after reportedly revealing storylines to an undercover reporter.

Three years later a court handed him a suspended sentence for dangerous driving after he admitted yanking the steering wheel from his then-wife Sandra while she was driving.

He was drunk and had shouted “I’ll kill us both” during the incident in 2009.

It all went downhill for Bruce - by May 2010 it was reported he was homeless and living in a caravan, after the bank repossessed his £500,000 Cheshire house to pay off debts.

He’d also signed on the dole. In 2015 he told The Sun: “Being on Corrie, it was much worse claiming benefits as people recognised me in the Job Centre.

"It was embarrassing and though nobody said anything to me, I knew that I was instantly recognisable and the Job Centre wasn’t really the place I wanted to be."

Bruce revealed he signed on for six weeks and got about £200 which cleared a National Insurance bill.

He added: "I would never, ever sign on again after that experience. I found it pretty soul-destroying and disheartening."

Bruce, now 69, has since managed to turn it around and is now living in his own home and surviving off three private pensions, as well as the state pension.

Dean Gaffney 

Dean Gaffney earned £120,000 a year playing cheeky street sweeper Robbie Jackson on EastEnders from 1993 to 2003 - and apparently splashed £20,000 on booze alone at his leaving party from the soap.

But four years later he was getting just £54.75 a week in Jobseeker’s Allowance and applying for a reduction on his council tax.

A source told the Mirror at the time: "He was pretty flash with his cash when he had it and he's paying the price for that.”

Dean, 44, returned to EastEnders in 2017 for a couple of years, having previously made guest appearances in 2004, 2010 and 2015.

He’s just returned from Australia, where he filmed the I’m A Celebrity All Stars series, so it’s safe to say he’s doing alright these days.

Lisa Appleton 

In 2008 Lisa Appleton went into the Big Brother house with her partner Mario Marcone.

He proposed on camera, and they got married soon after.

Recalling her days when she rose to fame, Lisa said: "Nothing prepared me for the overnight success and fame that I had. It was huge. I was knocking back magazine deals, newspaper deals, photo shoots, exclusives. I was earning £10,000, one in particular £25,000."

But in 2009, she and Mario divorced after a conman "destroyed their lives” by filming them for six months for a non-existent television show.

The lucrative offers had dried up too, and by 2015 Lisa was surviving on £7,000 a year in benefits and living in a small one-bedroom flat.

"I've lost everything,” she said at the time. “I've lost my sanity, I've lost my marriage, I've lost my car, my home, security. I've lost my way.

"I absolutely hate it when people say 'just get a job' - you can't just get a job."

In 2018, Lisa, 54, was forced to live in a treehouse when she became homeless once again.

But she seems to be on the up. In 2020 she revealed she is on OnlyFans.

Sean Ward

Earlier this year it was reported Sean Ward - who played evil Callum Logan on Coronation Street from 2014 to 2015 - was homeless, after previously getting arrested at an anti-vaccine protest in London.

The actor, 34, who used to earn £100K a year, told fans he’d lost everything and the stress of it all caused his teeth to fall out.

In an Instagram post Sean - who was also in Our Girl with Michelle Keegan - told fans: “The work dried up. No one would hire me whether in front of or behind the camera, all my usual ways of making money just stopped, eventually I couldn’t afford the rent.

“So I gave up my four-bed house and moved onto my friend’s couch. I had to put all my belongings into storage."

Paul Danan 

Big Brother star Paul 'Dangerous' Danan, 44, who found fame playing Sol Patrick on Hollyoaks between 1997 and 2001, has been open about his battle with drug addiction over the years.

During the pandemic he left his flat in Hertfordshire and moved back in with his parents in Essex as he didn't want to be on his own.

Having been clean for 18 months, he struggled with "cabin fever" and had a relapse, which made him feel "terrible, so guilty and ashamed”.

Paul, who estimates he's spent £1 million on rehab and recovery over the years, then went to stay at a friend's place in Bournemouth, who promised to help him with his recovery.

However, after struggling in the "grubby" property and not feeling ready to get clean, he ended up homeless after a fallout with his roommate.

Paul was spared from sleeping rough when a taxi driver came to his aid and took him to a hotel owned by his brother.

After missing an appointment at an addiction facility things spiralled as his addiction took hold.

As his money started to run out he was given a lifeline when he found a rehab facility, Gladstones, in the Cotswolds that could take him within the week. 

In March 2022 he revealed he was 20 months sober and "the happiest [he's] ever been".

Natasha Lyonne

Natasha Lyonne shot to fame in the early Noughties in cult teen movie American Pie.

But her promising career was derailed after a series of run-ins with the law, due to a drug addiction, which led to her living on the streets for a spell.

In 2001 Natasha was arrested for drink driving. Three years later she was charged with trespassing, destroying property and harassment of a neighbour.

She'd been staying at her actor friend Michael Rapaport’s house in New York and he evicted her, leaving her homeless.

In 2005 she was hospitalised “for a variety of ailments, including a collapsed lung and Hepatitis C";. She told Entertainment Weekly in 2012: “It’s weird to talk about. I was definitely as good as dead, you know?”

The charges against Natasha were dismissed after she completed court-appointed rehab in 2006, and she continued working on her recovery, with support from friends like actress Chloë Sevigny.

Natasha is now one of Netflix’s biggest stars, having written and starred in Russian Doll, and played Nicky Nichol on Orange is The New Black.

Richard Harrington

Richard Harrington played Gabriel Cochrane in BBC costume drama Lark Rise to Candleford.

Less than a month after joining the prime time show it was announced it was going to be axed, and Richard was forced to sign on.

“Right now I’m on the dole, which is the life of an actor,” he previously told Wales Online in 2013. “I haven’t worked since towards the end of last year. 

Admitting he was a regular at the Job Centre, he added: “I tend to work solidly seven to eight months of the year and for the remaining four I do DIY, trying to appease my wife and doing all the lists she leaves on the fridge every morning. 

“But my track record is pretty good and I have to remain faithful to that.”

Richard also revealed he worked as a Deliveroo driver during lockdown.

Donald Waugh

Donald Waugh played Joseph ‘Hughsey’ Hughes on Grange Hill from the show’s beginnings in 1978 until 1980, when his life unravelled as he faced alcoholism and homelessness.

Donald is now sober and dedicates his life to helping others who are going through the same thing, with enterprise Pavement to Catwalk.

He told the Mirror: "Being homeless for a period of time has opened my eyes to the potential and talent within this untapped society. 

“In this I have learned that the secret to helping yourself is to help others. I still hold this very close to my heart today."