17 Celebrities That Went On Game Shows Before They Were Famous

Before she became the massive star we now know her to be, Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, appeared on MTV’s hidden camera show Boiling Points. People are awarded prize money in the show if they remain calm in troubling situations (without knowing they’re being filmed). It’s fair to say Stefani was NOT happy with what happened.

Yes, Aaron Paul’s first TV appearance came on The Price is Right, the game show where the contestants must guess the prices of merchandise in order to win money or prizes. Aaron had to guess the price of a sports car, and came painstakingly close to getting it! Hard luck Aaron, it all worked out in the end though!

A fresh-faced John Ritter was one of three bachelors that a woman would have to choose from to accompany her on a date. It’s easy to see that he was always one for comedy and acting, pulling some excellent facial expressions, and evening getting the date!

The TV personality’s first exploits on-screen came on the British version of this bargain-based game show where contestants answer questions with the chance to win prizes. Simon went on twice, but actually only went home with around £20 worth of kitchen utensils.

The Mad Men star was on the show in his 20s. Similar to The Dating Game, John competed alongside two other bachelors to win the heart of a woman who would choose to go on a date with. Sadly for John, he hadn’t quite mastered the trademark Don Draper smooth-talking, and was rejected!

Linda’s on-screen debut was this price-guessing game show too, and she was just as excitable as young Aaron. Linda showed her smarts and actually won! She took home a fireplace – an odd prize, especially for someone so young.

A very young Paul went on the game show with his sister Ashley. The show is essentially the same format as the ‘newlywed’ game but with siblings. His cheeky, smiley attitude was cleary right there from a young age!

Prior to Olly’s rise to fame as a result of X-Factor, he appeared on British screens alongside host Noel Edmunds to attempt to eliminate his way, box by box, to lots of money in Deal or No Deal. The X-Factor alumn wasn’t slow to deliver some showmanship, moonwalking onto the stage with his box and at one point flashing some underwear.

It wasn’t a successful appearance for Olly though, having been offered £22,000 at one point, he left with only £10.

The co-writer/director and star of The Office tried his luck on this Britsh game show where the contestant must navigate their way around the game board hexagons by answering trivia questions. Stephen speaks about doing a bit of writing here and there and wanting to get into broadcasting, and boy did he!

The Cheers star was a contestant on the game show where she had to fill in the blanks and match the answers of the celebrity guests. Kirstie correctly guessed the answer of her final celebrity, and she won $5000!

This dating-oriented game show was evidently quite the breeding ground for future stars. While Arnold had received his ‘Mr Olympia’ and ‘Mr Universe’ titles, he was still early in his ascent to stardom when he went onto The Dating Game.

Unlike Paul Ritter, Arnold went onto the show as the one who would pick one of three women to accompany him on a date, but only by talking to them, not seeing. He and his chosen date were flown to Hawaii with complimentary water skis too!

It seems like this game show was the place to go for future musicians, as Naughty Boy also appeared on the show, taking on the banker and the boxes to try to win big. The British DJ did a lot better than Olly Murs though, going home with £44,000! And like Stephen Merchant, Naughty spoke about his dream to be a musician which eventually came true with help from the Deal or No Deal prize money.

Vanna White was destined to be a gameshow icon, and she got her first taste of it when she appeared on The Price is Right. The long-running Wheel of Fortune host wasn’t too successful on the price-guessing game, but she would soon find her success in the game show realm, joining Wheel of Fortune only two years after this episode aired!

Like Arnold, she too had the task of choosing from three potential candidates to accompany her on a date. Seven years on, Farrah would have a starring role in the first season of Charlie’s Angels!

A.J was on this extremely fun-looking game show as a kid, competing against two other children in a series of challenges and obstacle courses for points. Sadly, it didn’t go the way he wanted, and he eventually lost out to Jamie. Imagine being able to say that you beat a Backstreet Boy on a game show, that’s a real claim to fame for Jamie!

The TV personality got her on-screen debut on the British dating show, even though she was actually engaged at the time! When she was asked who she would have a ‘knees-up’ with if she could choose anyone, she said ‘Jack Nicholson’. She definitely displayed no shyness on this appearance, going straight in with talking about the bachelor’s “podgy bits”.

It’s not strictly a game show, but every good game show has a bonus round, and Ke$ha’s pre-fame appearance on The Simple Life has to be mentioned! This was the show where Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie would swap their wealthy, socialite routines for the more rural, farm-work type lives.

In season three, the pair ended up staying in Ke$ha’s family home! This was the singer’s debut on-screen appearance, and it involved her, Paris, and Nicole finding her mother a suitable man to date.