In an unexpected turn of events, reality TV star Megan McKenna has topped the iTunes chart with her singles 'High Heeled Shoes' and 'Far Cry From Love', surpassing Taylor Swift. McKenna, known for her appearances on 'Ex On The Beach', 'Celebrity Big Brother', and 'TOWIE', had previously auditioned for 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' in pursuit of a country music career.
McKenna is not alone in her crossover from reality TV to music. Kim Kardashian, who collaborated with producer The-Dream and Kanye West in 2010, later expressed regret about her pop music venture, telling Andy Cohen, 'What gave me the right to think I could be a singer?' Paris Hilton, capitalising on her fame from 'The Simple Life', released 'Stars Are Blind', which reached No. 18 in the US charts and sold 563,000 downloads.
Joey Essex, another TOWIE star, released the song 'Reem' with girl band Miss Millionaire. Despite its limited success, Essex told the Daily Mirror in 2014, 'I reckon I could be a pop star.' Heidi Montag of 'The Hills' fame spent $2 million on her music career without achieving major success, as she revealed to RadarOnline.
Jess Wright, also from TOWIE, formed a girl band called Lola with Megan McKenna in 2010. Her single 'Dance All Night' peaked at No. 36 on the UK Singles Chart, and she has since released two other songs. She hinted at a possible duet with former co-star James Argent, saying, 'Maybe the next time we're down the pub we'll do a bit of karaoke.'
