All the failing soap star businesses – from £500k tea room debt to the £45 side hustle fans don’t want to pay for
GIVEN actors often spend decades in search of their big break, it’s hard to imagine that accomplished soap stars would want to focus on anything other than acting.
Well, it happens. Perhaps they want to diversify their income stream or are simply looking for a change, but plenty of former soap stars have become entrepreneurs.
Of course, there’s the likes of Georgia May Foote, 34, best known for her role as Katy Armstrong on Coronation Street, who owns a successful nail technician business and training academy.
And there’s her co-star Adam Rickitt, known for playing Nick Tilsley, who owns a busy craft beer bottle shop in Cheshire.
But not every former soap star’s business has been a roaring success.
One cobbles legend is in the red by an eye-watering £488,393 and a Hollyoaks couple had to shut down their donut shop.
Fabulous takes a look…
Jennie McAlpine
Jennie McAlpine is one of Coronation Street’s best-loved stars, having played Fiz Stape on the cobbles since 2001.
Off-screen, she has owned Manchester tearoom Annies with her husband Chris Farr since December 2012.
And despite the restaurant having rave reviews on Google, Companies House documents suggest that it is drowning in debt.
Registered under Fifth Floor Limited, the tearoom owes its creditors £488,393, according to latest Companies House documents.
Its profit and loss account is £326,365 in the red, and it has negative £3,132 set aside for liabilities.
Roxy Shahidi
Roxy Shahidi is best known for playing Leyla Harding in Emmerdale, but she is also a qualified yoga teacher.
The 42-year-old has been in the soap on-and-off since 2009, and combines her acting career with an online yoga business, named YogaRox.
She regularly shares short tutorials on Instagram, and has a website detailing how she achieved “over a decade of experience”.
However, the side hustle hasn’t all been sunshine and rainbows. YogaRox is in £10,684 worth of debt, according to latest figures on Companies House.
In fact, since its incorporation in March 2016, Roxy has never made a profit on YogaRox.
Claire Cooper
Claire Cooper, 44, debuted as Jacqui McQueen on Hollyoaks in 2006 and departed from the cast seven years later in 2013, returning only for a cameo appearance in 2023.
The former British gymnast champion opened up bakery The Doughnut Whisperer back in 2021 with husband Emmett J. Scanlan, 46, who played Brendan Brady in Hollyoaks.
However, they were forced to close down the physical store in Chester just two years later – and, according to Companies House, are still weathering debts from it.
Accounts published in July last year show that The Doughnut Whisperer only had £174 cash at bank and in hand, and was £82,845 in debt.
The business also owes two of its other directors £20,530 and £25,866, including one who resigned before the ship sank.
Michelle Keegan
Following roaring success from her fashion partnerships with online retailer Very, former soap actress Michelle Keegan launched her very own swimwear brand called Orfila Bee.
The 37-year-old’s style label “was born from her vision to create contemporary swimwear that embodies confidence, comfort and style”.
However, it hasn’t been as successful as her other ventures, with latest Companies House documents showing that Orfila Bee is in the red by £78,814.
Michelle’s firm also has a shareholder deficit of £24,331, and it hasn’t made a profit since it launched in 2020.
Fortunately, mum-of-one Michelle went on to have a wildly successful acting career after starring as Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street between 2008 and 2014.
Beverley Callard
Beverley Callard made a name for herself on Coronation Street as Liz McDonald before quitting the year she went on I’m A Celebrity in 2020 – for which she banked a reported £125,000.
But the 68-year-old’s personal services company, JMBJ, went into liquidation in 2023 owing £215,677.
Her role as Director still shows as active on Companies House, but records reveal that the firm was £114,124 overdrawn at the time it was shut. This was after Beverley and her husband Jon McEwan, 60, took out director’s loans.
A further £51,450 VAT was owed to HMRC. There was also £47,319 in corporation tax and £2,784 owed to two trade creditors.
Beverly is struggling to close the chapter, as she was reportedly investigated by HMRC for failing to pay more than £200,000 owing after JMBJ closed shop.
Cheryl Fergison
Cheryl Fergison is best known for playing Heather Trott in the BBC soap opera EastEnders between 2007 and 2012.
The 59-year-old went on to do a string of reality TV shows, before amping up her theatre work, appearing in local productions like Cinderella, Jack and the Beanstalk, Sleeping Beauty and Aladdin.
But one side hustle she’s struggled to get off the ground is her personalised video one.
Joining platforms like Memmo and Cameo, platforms that connect us normal folk with celebrities to record personalised videos for a fee, she is charging upwards of £45 for a clip.
Despite her Enders fame, she only has five reviews on Cameo and has only received four orders on Memmo over the last year.