A.J. McLean is a member of the Backstreet Boys. He discovered his love for music early in life, and at the age of four his mother had him enrolled in a dance school where he trained for a minimum of two hours a day. McLean’s career would eventually expand to the fields of dancing, singing, modelling and acting. However, before all that (and all the crazy tattoos), he was simply known as “Mean” McLean.
This name stuck during his time as a formidable contestant on Nickelodeon Guts, back in the 90s. The show was an “action sports” competition which originally ran from 1992 to 1996. McLean dominated the arena and fought for the glowing piece of the Aggro Crag. He failed to win the competition, but certainly became “Larger Than Life.”
Leyla Milani
Before Canadian actress, Leyla Milani, starred in hit series like Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm, she earned the nickname of “Lucky Leyla” or “Lucky 13.” She used to dabble in “reality” wrestling, too, but it was her stint as a model for Deal or No Deal—lugging that number 13 briefcase many times between 2005 and 2009—that garnered her nationwide attention.
It was an effective launch pad for Milani, who would soon make appearances in reality TV shows and modeling gigs before founding her luxury hair care company, Leyla Milani Hair.
Markie Post
American actress, Markie Post, ironically started her career from behind the scenes. She may be known to many as Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC, or for her tough public defender role on the NBC sitcom, Night Court, but Post used to work behind the spotlight, in the back rooms of televised trivia.
She was also known for her appearances on the game show, The Pyramid and Password. In fact, Post became a familiar face in the game show circuit, also serving as associate producer of Double Dare. Not long after, she finally found her way into the acting career she craved.
Aaron Paul
It’s funny how sometimes people get associated with certain things, like Aaron Paul has become linked to the color yellow. Thanks to the wild success of the Breaking Bad series, Paul is often remembered for wearing a yellow hazmat suit as drug dealing Jesse Pinkman.
Before Paul became a multi-awarded actor, he also sported a yellow name tag in 2000 as a contestant on The Price Is Right in which he was notably high with excitement. He played and lost Dice Game, and overbid by more than $100 on the Showcase.
Joey Fatone
In the summer of 1995, Joey Fatone would make friends with Chris Kirkpatrick, a fellow stage performer at Universal Studios. This friendship blossomed and Fatone would soon become the fourth member of the boy-band, NSYNC, singing in a baritone voice. Girls would go bonkers over Fatone and the rest of the group, which included Justin Timberlake and JC Chasez.
Long before all the crazy boy-band mania, Fatone made his TV debut on the Nickelodeon game show, Nick Arcade. We have a feeling this fact may have been dug up from a past he would rather forget. Back then, Joey went by the far more formal name, “Joseph,” and he was a gangling youth with awkward wavy bangs to match.