We take a look at some celebrities who started life in very different jobs before they found fame
WORDS: SUE CRAWFORD PICTURES: SHUTTERSTOCK
Bradley Walsh
Today he’s best known as a comic, TV presenter, actor and singer, but the popular host of The Chase actually started his career chasing different goals altogether – as a helicopter engineer.
Born in Watford, Hertfordshire, Bradley left school at 16 and landed a job at the local Rolls-Royce factory as a jet engineer.
“I was a Rolls-Royce apprentice engineer and ended up going to their technical school. That’s where I learnt to build helicopter engines,” Bradley, 63, recalls.
“I was a helicopter engineer for five years; that’s where my love of engineering comes from.”
Bradley then almost became a professional footballer after signing to Brentford FC, but his career was cut short by injury.
He took his first steps into entertainment as a Pontins Bluecoat before breaking into TV where his career really took off, going on to land roles in shows including Coronation Street, The Larkins and Doctor Who.
Zoe Henry
When Zoe Henry gently tends to sick animals in her role as kind-hearted Emmerdale vet Rhona Goskirk her gentle side is not entirely an act.
For before she became an actress, Zoe actually spent two years as a care worker.
She explains, “My dad was very keen that if we were going to do anything unpredictable, we had back up.
“Mum had worked in the care sector and it seemed like a natural progression for me, so I got all my qualifications. I loved it.”
Even after she started acting, Zoe, 50, still kept her hand in, returning to care work during gaps between theatre jobs.
“I’d come off stage on a Saturday night and then on a Monday I’d be back to house visits and helping people go to the bathroom or get themselves dressed,” she recalls.
“I wouldn’t have any qualms about going back to it. There’s nothing more life-affirming.”
Robson Green
Grantchester star Robson Green worked in naval engineering before jumping ship to become an actor.
After leaving school he found work as a draughtsman at the shipbuilders Swan Hunter in Wallsend. He spent three years there, before handing in his notice to train as an actor, after a friend advised him to follow his dreams.
“He said ‘you are single, you have no responsibilities…go for it if it will make you happy’,” Robson, 59, recalls.
In 1989,
