IT'S hard to believe the Noughties started more than 20 years ago – especially as so many of the era's big bands have made a comeback.

Now another throwback star, Nelly Furtado, has hit the headlines after being branded "unrecognisable" by fans following a red carpet appearance.

The Canadian singer, now 43, rose to fame with the 2000 track I Am Like A Bird, which she often performed in just a tank top and jeans.

But towards the late Noughties, she vanished from the spotlight and was revealed to have worked at her daughter's school library and helped out friends in a record store.

She's not the only other huge star from that era who seemed to have made a surprising career change – now we take a look at what happened next.

Daphne and Celeste 

The US pop duo had insult hits U.G.L.Y.  and Ooh Stick You in the early 2000s but were dropped by their record label in 2001. 

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Daphne – real name Karen DiConcetto – is now a TV writer and producer. She wrote and produced shows like Recovery Road and SKAM Austin on US TV networks.

She married husband Damian Stanley and the couple live in Los Angeles with their son Samir.

Meanwhile Celeste Cruz briefly went into acting – appearing in comedy 30 Rock – and is now married to husband Abram, with whom she shares a son, Leif.  

The duo staged a brief comeback in 2018 but their singles failed to be big hitters in the charts.

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Booty Luv

Former Big Brovaz singers Cherise Roberts and Nadia Shepherd formed Booty Luv in 2005. 

Their debut single Boogie 2nite was a cover of American singer Tweet's 2002 single which went to number one in the UK dance charts.

Their cover of Lucy Pearl's Don't Mess with My Man in 2007 topped the dance charts again and reached number 11 in the top 40. 

They released their last single Black Widow in 2013 but still perform together. 

Cherise now shows off her vocal talents on TikTok and last year Big Brovaz released a reunion single called Controlla. 

One True Voice 

Although they won the boys competition on Popstars: The Rivals, One True Voice were outshone by Girls Aloud.

The band split in 2003 with member Jamie Shaw swiping that he was “over the moon”. 

Anton Gordon now goes by Anton Romero and attempted a pop comeback on The X Factor in 2006, but failed to make it through the preliminary rounds to perform for the judges.

He regularly shares soulful clips of his singing on social media and last month posted a video of himself in Tape studio in Mayfair London. 

Matt Johnson lashed out at Popstars in 2017, telling The Mirror: “They just don’t care if you end up upset or miserable. It’s cut-throat, they’ll hang you out to dry even at a young age.

"Now I look back and I think of those people, ‘Aren’t you ashamed of ­behaving that way to a 17-year-old guy with a dream?’”

Dad-of-two Matt released a cover of Elvis’s Can’t Help Falling in Love last month.He still boasts an impressive fanbase with more than a million monthly streams on Spotify.

Since 2003, Daniel Pearce has been a backing singer for Dizzee Rascal, performing live with him on Top of the Pops, Jools Holland and at Glastonbury.

In 2014 he released a remix of Kanye West’s Bound 2 with DJ Sigma. 

Daniel tried his luck on X Factor, making it through to Judge's Houses. More recently he formed the funk band Shuffler with former members of Jamiroquai.

After secretly auditioning for American Idol in 2010, Keith Semple went on the The Voice US in 2015 and was part of Adam Levine’s team before being eliminated. 

He now works as a tennis coach and performs in two groups – the Semple Band and The CyberIAM. 

Jamie Shaw supported the Backstreet Boys on tour but ended up working as a publicity assistant for BBC‘s Doctor Who. 

On his LinkedIn profile, he claimed to have worked as a personal assistant for funnyman and Great British Bake Off star Matt Lucas for nine months until June this year. 

The father-of-one married his wife Danieella in Santorini a couple of years ago and his Instagram page is full of sweet snaps of his young family.

Des’ree 

Life singer Desirée Annette Weekes disappeared from public life after suffering from low energy due to an underactive thyroid. 

When her record company Sony did not take the option for another record, she walked away from the music industry completely.

But she revealed she had retained as a nutritionist and naturopath. 

In 2019 she released a new album, A Love Story, which failed to chart.

Blu Cantrell

Blu – real name Tiffany Cobb – is still performing despite a mental health episode in 2014. 

The Breathe singer was taken into police custody in 2014 after worrying behaviour in Santa Monica, California.

She was seen screaming in the street someone had “poisoned her with gas” and referred to herself as a “one-hit wonder”.

She was taken to a nearby hospital and was evaluated by medics. 

But the singer seems to be back to good health, performing again in 2016 and at the O2 in 2020. 

Daniel Powter 

Canadian Daniel Powter had a hit with single Bad Day in 2005. 

But his 2008 single Next Plane Home peaked at number 70 in the UK charts.

The Canadian is still performing but revealed he turned to drugs after being abused as a child.

He told now defunct news channel WUSA9: "I thought that [addiction] was my problem. But it wasn't. That was my solution.

"It wasn't until I started digging in, taking a look at myself, saying I gotta work on some stuff (that) I don't want to look at (that I figured it out)".

Powter did not name his accuser during the interview, but the singer explained the unwanted sexual advances began when he was seven.

He said: "My parents didn't know and I was too scared to tell them".

Sonique 

The singer and DJ had a string of hits but is remembered for her song It Feels So Good.

She won a Brit for best female solo artist in 2001 and an Ivor Novello award. 

In 2009 she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had five months of chemotherapy.

After getting the all clear she released a cover of Girls Just Want To Have Fun to raise money for Cancer Research.

She now DJs at London hotspots like posh hotel The Ned and mixes on Unity DAB. 

The 411 

The girlband’s single Dumb reached number three in 2004 before being dropped by label Sony. 

Suzie Furlonger is now a freelance backing singer and has performed for Kelly Rowland, Take That, and – bizarrely – Cliff Richard. 

She tried out for The X Factor in 2008 but missed out on the live finals. 

Tanya Boniface married 70-year-old US singer Paebo Bryson – who sang Disney’s Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast soundtracks. 

They had a son together. In 2019 Peabo had a heart attack, but thankfully he made a full recovery. 

Carolyn Owlett went into PR and is now an associate media director at PR agency Push – representing posh brands like Dinny Hall and Crabtree and Evelyn. 

Her son Billy Barratt stars on the Apple TV series Invasion. 

Tisha Monique Martin keeps making music and released new single You this week.

Last month she hinted the band would be getting back together, as well as performing at the Mighty Hoopla in June this year. 

Samantha Mumba

Irish singer-songwriter Samantha Mumba shot to fame at the age of 17 with her 2000 hit Gotta Tell You.

Other songs including Gotta Tell You and Baby Come Over helped earn her a small legion of loyal fans.

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However, by 2002 Samantha was dipping her toe in the acting world with her appearance in the film The Time Machine and a number of independent Irish movies.

She returned to music but failed to follow on from her early noughties success and earlier this year announced she was starting as a presenter on the Dublin radio station 98FM.

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