{"id":67289,"date":"2023-09-23T13:32:03","date_gmt":"2023-09-23T13:32:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newcelebworld.com\/?p=67289"},"modified":"2023-09-23T13:32:03","modified_gmt":"2023-09-23T13:32:03","slug":"i-came-second-on-a-huge-reality-tv-show-and-sold-five-million-albums-before-quitting-to-launch-politics-career-the-sun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newcelebworld.com\/tv-movies\/i-came-second-on-a-huge-reality-tv-show-and-sold-five-million-albums-before-quitting-to-launch-politics-career-the-sun\/","title":{"rendered":"I came second on a huge reality TV show and sold five million albums &#8211; before quitting to launch politics career | The Sun"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>HE&#x27;S one of the biggest selling artists in American Idol history and has released six albums.<\/p>\n<p>Clay Aiken, who finished runner-up in the second season of the hit show in 2003, has shifted more than five million records and has enjoyed a successful stage and TV career, too.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/clay-aiken-attend-cirque-du-846129619.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/live-coast-to-coast-three-846129632.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>The multi-talented star, who worked in special education before Idol, has always had an interest in <span>politics<\/span>, one of his heroes is President Jimmy Carter, so his switch to a political career wasn&#x27;t entirely unexpected.<\/p>\n<p>In 2014, Clay, 44, ran for Congress in North Carolina. Clay won the Democratic primary but ultimately lost out to Republican incumbent\u00a0Renee Ellmers in the voting booths.<\/p>\n<p>Last year he had another crack of the whip, same state, different district, but, on that occasion, he failed to win the Democratic primary.<\/p>\n<p>The openly gay star has spoken out in support for LGBTQ rights after coming out in 2008, but has repeatedly stated he does not want to be considered a single issue campaigner.<\/p>\n<h2><span>READ MORE ON AMERICAN IDOL<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/SC-Katy-Perry-Selfie-Comp-copy.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3>American Idol fans &#8216;scream&#8217; as Katy Perry takes selfie on toilet for shoe ad<\/h3>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/me-comp-finalists.jpg\"><\/p>\n<h3>The American Idol Season 21 winner revealed<\/h3>\n<p>For nine years, he was a Unicef ambassador working to improve the plight of disadvantaged children around the world with the aim of enabling all children to receive a primary education.<\/p>\n<p>The philanthropist also co-founded the National Inclusion Project which aims to help children with disabilities integrate into non-disabled environments.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Clay was voted the nation&#x27;s most-loved reality star in 2003 and that popularity only grew following the release of his hit memoir Learning to Sing in 2004.<\/p>\n<p>The same year he had a televised <span>Christmas<\/span> special to coincide with the release of his Christmas album.<\/p>\n<h2>Most read in Music<\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/newspress-collage-24096546-1695401979266.jpg\"><\/picture><span>COMEBACK KIDS <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Huge 90s band to reunite for epic UK gig &#8211; 21 years after splitting up<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/newspress-collage-24088728-1695384755388.jpg\"><\/picture><span>rules his world <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>Gary Barlow red-faced as he admits he hasn&#8217;t told wife about Take That tour<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/professor-green-performs-sse-arena-446314027-1.jpg\"><\/picture><span>MONEY BLOW <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>I&#8217;ve topped charts but didn\u2019t earn a penny for 10 years, says Pro Green<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/1982-left-right-tom-bailey-846751400.jpg\"><\/picture><span>new art <\/span><\/p>\n<h3>I was in huge 80s group and played at Live Aid but I quit fame for very normal job<\/h3>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>He went on to grace the stages of Broadway starring in Monty Python&#x27;s Spamalot and in 2012 he finished second on The <span>Celebrity<\/span> Apprentice.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/singer-clay-aiken-performs-onstage-846129625-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thesun.co.uk\/tvandshowbiz\/24013901\/clay-aiken-america-idol-politician\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>HE&#x27;S one of the biggest selling artists in American Idol history and has released six albums. Clay Aiken, who finished runner-up in the second season of the hit show in 2003, has shifted more than five million records and has&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>I came second on a huge reality TV show and sold five million albums - before quitting to launch politics career | The Sun - Newcelebworld.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/newcelebworld.com\/tv-movies\/i-came-second-on-a-huge-reality-tv-show-and-sold-five-million-albums-before-quitting-to-launch-politics-career-the-sun\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I came second on a huge reality TV show and sold five million albums - before quitting to launch politics career | The Sun - Newcelebworld.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"HE&#x27;S one of the biggest selling artists in American Idol history and has released six albums. 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