‘Shipwrecked’: 7 Stars You Forgot Were Islanders Before They Became Famous(ish)

It’s been seven years since ‘Shipwrecked’ last graced our screens, but following the huge success of ‘Love Island’, it’s set to gain a whole load of new fans who missed it the first time round - as well as the rest of us who couldn’t get enough of the E4 show.

But how many of these stars did you know first found fame via the island-based series? 

Jeff Brazier

Arguably the biggest name to come out of the ‘Shipwrecked’ fold, the former professional footballer is still a regular on British TV screens.

After appearing on the 2001 series of ‘Shipwrecked’, Jeff started dating fellow reality star Jade Goody, who he had two sons with before her death in 2009.

He has since appeared on the likes of ‘Celebrity Wife Swap’, ‘The Farm’ (which he won), ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Now’ and ‘The X Factor’ (as a guest presenter, not a contestant). In 2011 he took part in ‘Dancing On Ice’ (let’s just say skating wasn’t his strong point), and is still a regular on ‘This Morning’ and ‘Loose Women’. 

Stephen Bear

Now a regular fixture on the reality TV circuit, Stephen actually made his television debut on the 2011 series of ‘Shipwrecked’.

Speaking about the attention he was hoping to receive as a result of being an islander, Stephen told Digital Spy the time: “I’ll have to fight all the girls off, won’t I? If they want to get on top of me, I’ll just have to let them. I’ll have to let them run the course.” Oh dear.

Afterwards, he featured in the 2015 series of ‘Ex On The Beach’ before inexplicably going on to win ‘Celebrity Big Brother’ the following year. He’s also popped up on ‘Celebs Go Dating’ and hosted ‘Just Tattoo Of Us’ in 2017.

Sarah Jane Crawford

Sarah Jane has become a familiar face on TV and radio since taking part in series three of ‘Shipwrecked’ in 2003.

She’s hosted shows for (deep breath) the BBC, MTV, Radio 1Xtra, E!, Disney, Channel 5, and ITV2, most notably on ‘The Xtra Factor’ for the latter.

Not content with presenting, SJ also tried her luck at acting and landed roles in ‘It’s A Lot’ (us neither) in 2013, and the slightly better known ‘The Hatton Garden Job’ alongside Joely Richardson and Larry Lamb.

Mark Byron

Mark was making foot long sarnies at Subway when he bagged a spot on series seven of ‘Shipwrecked’ in 2009. Fast forward two years and he popped up on ‘The X Factor’ to murder sing Rihanna’s ‘Only Girl In The World’ in completely the wrong key.

Realising that his future didn’t lie in music, the Liverpudlian tried his luck in the ’Big Brother house instead and lasted 65 days on series 15 before being evicted from the house.

These days (according to his Twitter bio) Mark is a “TV and Radio presenter” and a “style award winner” no less.

Xanthi Toupoyannis

Xanthi appeared alongside Mark on the seventh series of ‘Shipwrecked’ and we were all ready to buy hats when he got together with fellow islander Dan. Alas, it wasn’t to last.

We know this because Xanthi, now an advertising sales manager, popped up on ‘First Dates’ in 2016 looking for love and ended up on a date with model Linford. Mind you, that didn’t go too well either after Linford told him he “doesn’t like gay people”. *puts hat back in box*

Chloe Everton

Not only did series three act as a springboard for Jeff Brazier and Sarah Jane Crawford into the world of TV presenting, buty Chloe Everton also bagged herself a job at Sky Sports News as one of its main presenters, as well as on shopping channel QVC.

Sophia Wardman

After being castaway on the 2007 series of ‘Shipwrecked’, Sophia made it through to the live finals of ‘X Factor’ in 2010 (aka, the one with One Direction) as a quarter of girl group Belle Amie.

Unfortunately the group didn’t enjoy the colossal fame and fortune that the 1D boys went on to enjoy, although they did release two (flop) singles before disappearing down into the depths of pop’s dumper forever.

The new series of ‘Shipwrecked’ starts on Monday 28 January at 9pm on E4.