Plenty of reality shows, from singing to dancing, dating to cooking, have seen hundreds of winners over the years. In most cases, the winner has gone on to pursue a career in the field they were focused on from the beginning, whether it was music or culinary aspirations. Many reality show winners have gone on to appear on other reality shows. But that isn't always the case.
Life happens, and many reality competition show winners branch out into other fields while still working on their passion, while others outright abandon their craft to do something completely different. Whatever the case, they are often successful in one capacity or another.
10 Kelly Clarkson (American Idol)
One of the most successful stars to ever emerge from American Idol, or any reality show, for that matter, Clarkson continues to have a tremendously huge music career. But she has also become an on-screen personality with plenty of talents beyond just music.
In addition to serving as a judge on another reality singing competition series, The Voice, which brings her journey full circle as she is now the one coaching up and coming musical talents, Clarkson also hosts her own award-winning daytime talk show, The Kelly Clarkson Show.
9 Parvati Shallow (Survivor)
After winner the 16th season of Survivor called Fans vs. Favorites, Shallow went on to compete on Survivor for the third time in Heroes. Vs. Villains, where she was runner-up (she played the first time on season 13 and placed sixth). She returned once again in Winners at War but was voted out early on, only placing 16th.
She continued her work on screen in reality TV in Around the World for Free, but then switched to hosting gigs. She hosted the weekly web series Survivor Live on CBS.com in 2013 and 2014. Today, she works as a yoga teacher as well as an executive coach and speaker, according to her personal Website, ParvatiShallow. She also co-authored a children's book, putting her on-screen dreams to the side to raise her kids as well, according to ET Online.
8 Courtney Lapresi (MasterChef)
She might have a passion for cooking, but in the end, after winning the cooking competition series MasterChef, Lapresi decided that cooking wasn't going to pay the bills. She did release a cookbook called 'Everyday Fancy: 65 Easy, Elegant Recipes for Meals, Snacks, Sweets, and Drinks' but she never pursued a career in food.
Instead, as of 2017, Lapresi was reportedly working in sales for Tesla, according to RealityTVRevisited. She does, however, continue to share her cooking and culinary talents on Instagram, though it's a hobby at this point for the talented cook.
7 Derrick Levasseur (Big Brother)
One of the most skilled Big Brother players, Derrick went into the game as a police officer who had worked undercover before, an occupation he did not tell his fellow houseguests about. His secret skills and ability to read others and lie convincingly came in handy as he won season 16.
Derrick then went on to pursue a career in television, appearing in the series Hard Evidence: Is OJ Innocent, which aired on Investigation Discovery and was produced by Martin Sheen. He also hosted the series Breaking Homicide and hosts two podcasts, one about true crime and another with his former Big Brother castmate and friend Cody Calafiore.
6 John Cochran (Survivor)
John Cochran was one of the most likable players on Survivor, and a skilled strategist when it came to game play. He played twice, placing eighth in season 23 then, using what he learned from his mistakes the first time around, returned for season 26 and won. He remains one of the top 40 players from Survivor.
After pulling out a win on the series, Cochran, as he was known by fellow players, became a successful TV writer. He has written for many popular CBS series, including The Millers, Kevin Can Wait, and Star Trek: Lower Decks, as per his IMDB page.
5 Fantasia Barrino (American Idol)
One of many notable American Idol alums, Fantasia enjoyed a successful career in music for many years. But she also pivoted to reality TV in another sense in that she starred in her own reality show called Fantasia for Real, which aired on VH1.
She also starred in the musicals The Color Purple and After Midnight on Broadway, and penned a memoir called Fantasia: Life is Not a Fairytale.
4 Taylor Hicks (American Idol)
Fans forget that Taylor Hicks actually won his season of American Idol, beating out Katharine McPhee in one of the most controversial moments from the show. He remains the lowest-ranked of the first 10 American Idol winners. He did go on to secure a residency in Las Vegas back in 2012 and release three studio albums. He also dabbled in acting, starring in Grease on Broadway, then becoming part of the national tour.
However, Hicks has since shifted to business ownership, running Southern barbecue restaurant Saw's Juke Joint in Alabama, as noted on the restaurant's website, Sawsbbq. He also hosts a food and travel series called State Plate, which airs on INSP.
3 Dan Gheesling (Big Brother)
When Gheesling joined Big Brother's 10th season, he was working as a schoolteacher. He won the game by a landslide, being one of only a few people to win by unanimous vote. Dan is also responsible for some of the most shocking and iconic moments in Big Brother history. He remains one of the best to have ever played the game.
Dan turned his fame into a career that also allows him to use another skillset: video gaming. He live-streams his gaming on his own YouTube channel as well as on Twitch and is considered to be a social media influencer as well.
2 Melissa Rycroft (The Bachelor)
Part of one of the biggest betrayals in The Bachelor history, while Rycroft did technically "win" the show by being proposed to at the end of the season, Jason Mesnick then declared during the reunion show that he felt he had made a mistake and should have picked the runner-up Molly instead.
After appearing on Dancing with the Stars, Rycroft went on to host that reality show's live tour. She then continued her career in front of the reality TV camera, but on the other side of the coin, as host: she hosted several reality competition series, including Bachelor Pad and Redneck Island. She also hosted the Tribune morning show Morning Dose for a period of time.
1 Jordin Sparks (American Idol)
Technically, Sparks hasn't "moved on" from her singing career, as she still remains a popular singer/songwriter with hit songs. But she did spread her wings and dip her toes into acting as well.
She appeared in the movie Sparkle and even performed on Broadway, in the musical In The Heights where she played Nina Rosario. Sparks has also become something of a businesswoman, having released a number of perfumes. She was most recently seen in costume as a secret contestant on another reality show, The Masked Dancer.
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