Pop Idol legend Carrie Grant has revealed her and her husband were once so poor they couldn’t afford to eat – despite him being a pop star.
Her other half David Grant shot to fame in the 80s and early 90s as part of UK funk and soul duo Linx.
Some of his biggest hits included the tracks Intuition and Could It Be I’m Falling In Love and Stop and Go as a solo artist.
Although the couple now have successful careers as vocal coaches and shot to fame on shows like Fame Academy and Pop Idol, they previously struggled to make ends meet.
Both self-employed artists who didn’t qualify for a regular mortgage, they were hit hard when interest rates when through the roof – not dissimilar to what is happening now.
Carrie, now 57, told This Is Money: “We had to pay what was a crazy amount back then – £1,100 – every month. All the homes around us in Alexandra Palace, North London, went into negative equity so we couldn’t even sell.
“David and I would get work singing backing vocals in the West End and we’d be searching for change down the back of the sofa for Tube tickets so we could do that session and earn £125.”
Describing that time in their lives as “very stressful days”, Carrie said friends would even buy them groceries because they had so much to pay out they couldn’t afford proper food.
Although David had about 15 hits in the 1980s, Carrie said he wasn’t selling any records at that point.
And because of his previous success, many artists assumed he wouldn’t want to sing backing vocals on their upcoming tracks.
However, the couple’s luck changed in the mid-1990s when they were recruited to sing on the PC World advert with its memorable words: “Where in the world? PC World?“
Although Carrie and David were only paid £150 each for their appearance on the jingle, they went on to rake in £6,000 each per year in royalties from it – which paid their mortgage for three years.
By 2004 they had hit the big time and both became household names on BBC reality show Fame Academy.
This enabled them to buy a seven-bedroom house with a swimming pool in north London for £525,000 house – which is thought to be worth five times as much now.
The pair also acted as vocal coaches on the ITV show Pop Idol and went on to land their own show Carrie and David’s Popshop.
Despite their success, down to earth Carrie says luxury to her means a fridge full of fruit and vegetables and says she never spends money on herself.
She shared: “I haven’t been to the hairdresser since January. I cut and dye my own hair and do my own nails. I’m not interested in manicures. It feels wasteful. I’d rather spend my money on a cos lettuce.”
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