- Nicole Scherzinger, Frankie Muniz, and more stars commanded airwaves and TV screens in the 2000s.
- But over the past decade, they went MIA. It’s now a rarity to hear their names mentioned in Hollywood or see them appear in big-name projects.
- Insider rounded up a list of 13 celebrities who were popular in the aughts, but left the spotlight in the past ten years.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
While some celebrities never take a break from their bustling careers, others do just the opposite. Sometimes, even A-listers decide to take a break from the limelight and seemingly retreat back into a life of normalcy. From chart-topping singers, to blockbuster film actors, there’s a number of stars who have seemingly disappeared in the last decade.
Here are 13 celebrities who you will undoubtedly remember, but probably haven’t seen much of in the past ten years.
Nicole Scherzinger rose to fame as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls.
After the girl group split up in 2010, Scherzinger became noticeably absent from the music scene.
However, she could potentially become a household name again now that she’s a judge on Fox’s competition series “The Masked Singer” and reportedly reuniting with the Pussycat Dolls for a 2020 reunion tour.
Taylor Lautner rose to prominence as the werewolf Jacob Black in the "Twilight" film franchise.
After the final movie's release in 2012, Lautner's film appearances were far and few between.
While he starred in one film, "Abduction," in 2011, and had a main role on season two of Fox's "Scream Queens" in 2016, he didn't keep up the same momentum as his "Twilight" costars Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson this decade.
Miranda Cosgrove was one of the most popular child actors on Nickelodeon in the 2000s.
Cosgrove starred as Megan on "Drake and Josh" from 2004 to 2007. She then went on to land the titular role on "iCarly," which ran from 2007 to 2012.
While we haven't seen Cosgrove hit the big or small screen in recent years, you may have heard her this decade - she voiced the character Margo in the "Despicable Me" movies.
Flavor Flav is a reality star and rapper who was popular in the aughts.
The rapper rose to prominence as a member of hip-hop group Public Enemy, but he became a reality TV sensation thanks to "Flavor Of Love," which ran from 2006 to 2008. A year later, Flavor Flav performed at the 2009 VH1 Hip Hop Honors.
While Public Enemy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this decade in 2013, Flavor Flav has otherwise maintained a low profile.
Clay Aiken finished second on "American Idol" in 2003, and went on to be a bigger star than the season two winner.
Aiken went multi-platinum with his debut album, "Measure of a Man," released in October 2003. He continued to release music throughout the 2000s, but largely fell out of the public eye after putting out 2012's "Steadfast," an album of previous recordings and songs only sung in concerts.
Ryan Cabrera's debut single "On The Way Down" was everywhere in 2004.
While he never reached the same level of success in the 2010s as he did in the 2000s, Cabrera does have new music. His latest single, "Inside Your Mind," was released in August 2019.
Frankie Muniz became one of America's favorite child stars after he was cast in the Fox sitcom "Malcolm in the Middle."
Muniz is now happily married and has held down several smaller film gigs since the last episode of "Malcolm in the Middle" aired in 2006.
Leona Lewis became an overnight sensation with her hit 2007 song "Bleeding Love."
While critics and fans loved her debut album, her 2009 follow-up "Echo" didn't have the same viral appeal.
The British singer is still performing, although her shows mostly take place around the UK. She married Dennis Jauch in 2019.
Susan Boyle captivated audiences when she appeared on "Britain's Got Talent" in 2009.
Other than a brief appearance on "America's Got Talent: The Champions" in February 2019, she has maintained a relatively low profile throughout the decade.
Bret Michaels became a recognizable pop culture figure thanks to his band Poison and his reality show "Rock of Love."
In the past 10 years, Michaels has been doing what he does best - playing shows for a niche audience comprised of day-one Poison fans. His days on reality television, however, are long over.
Andy Milonakis is best known for creating and starring in MTV's "The Andy Milonakis Show."
After the show was killed in 2007, Milonakis continued making parody videos, but in recent years, it seems as though he's disappeared from the spotlight entirely - although he still has a niche following online. His YouTube channel currently boasts 534K subscribers.
Jamie Lynn Spears proved she was more than just Britney Spears' younger sister with roles on Nickelodeon shows "All That" and "Zoey 101."
Spears was one of Nickelodeon's standout stars, but her career was put on hiatus when, at the age of 16, she became pregnant with daughter Maddie Briann Aldridge.
Since welcoming her first child in June 2008, Spears has largely been missing from the public eye, although she did launch a career in country music in 2013.
She'll hopefully be coming back to television in a big way soon, though. Netflix announced in July that Spears was cast as a series regular in the upcoming romance drama series "Sweet Magnolias," based on the novel series by Sherryl Woods.
Nicole Richie rose to fame on the Fox reality TV series, "The Simple Life," alongside childhood best friend Paris Hilton
The reality series was a major hit when it aired from 2003 to 2007, but after the series ended, she became more noticeably removed from the public eye.
She went on to marry Good Charlotte frontman Joel Madden in 2010, whom she shares two children with.
While Richie has appeared as herself on television series like "Empire" and "Lip Sync Battle" this decade, it was her younger sister Sofia Richie who was the bigger household name in the past few years (largely due to her relationship with Scott Disick and her connection to the Kardashian-Jenner family).
