He became a household name after making it to the bottom ten of Pop Idol in 2001.
But now Rik Waller has stepped away from the music industry and found a very new career away from the spotlight.
The now 43-year-old captivated the judges S.imon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox with their vocal talent at just 20 years old.
However, he sadly had to retire prematurely from the reality show due to severe laryngitis, where he was replaced by Darius Campbell Danesh.
Despite her early departure, Waller signed a record deal with EMI worth believed to be around £400,000.
She got off to a good start with her first single, a cover of I Will Always Love You which reached an impressive number 6 in the charts.
Rik Waller has stepped away from the music industry and found a very new career away from the spotlight after making the final ten of Pop Idol in 2001 (pictured).
The now 43-year-old wowed judges Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman, Nicki Chapman and Neil Fox with his vocal talent at just 20 years old (pictured at the audition)
he also appeared in the first series of Celebrity Fit Club in 2002, alongside the likes of AnnWiddecombe and Coleen Nolan.
However, he was kicked off the reality show after he was caught binge eating.
Waller gave her singing career another chance, after forming her own band and signing with Red Admiral Records.
But two months into the tour in 2004, three of their shows were canceled due to low ticket sales.
In 2007, Waller declared that she would no longer act professionally after deciding to marry star fan Kelly Bliss.
He confessed: ‘I’m getting tired of singing and I can’t depend on it for 100 per cent of my income. Now I have to think of two people and talent doesn’t always pay the bills.
The couple were supposed to be married in a pagan ceremony, but it is unclear if they ever went through it.
At that moment Waller said: “This is definitely a real thing and although our pagan beliefs mean ours is not an engagement in the conventional sense, we have purchased rings as a gesture of love and commitment to each other.”
Despite her early exit, Waller signed a record deal with EMI believed to be worth around £400,000 and got off to a good start with her first single, a cover of I Will Always Love You (pictured in 2004).
He also appeared on the first series of Celebrity Fit Club in 2002 (pictured), alongside the likes of Ann Widdecombe and Coleen Nolan, but was axed for secret binge eating.
But after being forced to abandon his singing career, he carved out a new career as an exam invigilator.
In 2013, he was working full-time proctoring secondary school exams for Piper Assessment, in Sittingbourne, Kent, where he lived with his mother Christine and father Kris.
He spoke to the Mail that year, where he explained that he changed his name to Richard and no longer wants to be called Rik.
Waller also spoke about the trials she faced after losing her job following her failed singing career.
He He said: “The most demoralizing thing I’ve ever had to do in my life was stand in line at the employment office and have people look at me and say, ‘What a failure.’
“When you’ve lost the ability to do the work you’ve always done, it’s an incredible stab in the back to discover that people are actually laughing at you.
‘That’s why I don’t make much effort to talk to the press these days: it can be more trouble than it’s worth. “I was never physically attacked, but a lot of people approached me and were particularly offensive.”
But after being forced to abandon his singing career, he carved out a new career as an exam invigilator and, by 2013, was working full-time proctoring high school exams (pictured).
He spoke to the Mail that year, where he explained that he changed his name to Richard and no longer wants to be called Rik (pictured in 2004).
However, he was very optimistic now that he had embarked on his new career, saying: “If you have a roof over your head and food on the table, I don’t know how anyone can be really unhappy.”
But instead of quitting music completely, he revealed he was running a mobile nightclub and karaoke business where he tours venues with his father Kris in his spare time.
Kris, who remained his son’s manager, said Waller’s career change was forced upon him because of his vocal problems that left him yodeling instead of singing.
But Waller also found time to run Starsearch Entertainment, a karaoke and nightclub company, and said at the time that he could foresee a future in which he might try the world of politics.