Life after the show · 3 min read ·

Sanjaya Malakar had left show business and was a Montana pastry chef by 2022

Sanjaya Malakar was a pastry chef in Montana by 2022. Other contestants opened restaurants and bars or graduated from culinary school.

Sanjaya Malakar

Sanjaya Malakar

Photo: TriviaKing at English Wikipedia Later versions were uploaded by Hmwith at en.wikipedia . · Public domain · Photo source.

Sanjaya Malakar finished seventh on season 6 of American Idol, and by August 2022 he had left show business and was working as a pastry chef in Montana. Others opened a Nashville bar and a Birmingham restaurant, founded or owned food businesses in Minnesota and Louisiana, or graduated from culinary school.

Sanjaya Malakar worked for a pizzeria, in bars and as a pastry chef

In May 2010, Sanjaya Malakar was working as a singer for Pagliacci Pizza, a Seattle pizzeria chain. In New York, he was tending bar while living in Queens in May 2012, and by April 2014 he had quit a bar job in the East Village to focus on his music. By August 2022, he had left show business and was working as a pastry chef in Montana.

Morgan Wallen opened a bar and Taylor Hicks opened Ore Drink and Dine

Morgan Wallen was eliminated in the playoffs on season 6 of The Voice. In June 2024, Wallen opened Morgan Wallen’s This Bar & Tennessee Kitchen, a six-story bar, restaurant and live-music venue next to the Ryman Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

Taylor Hicks won season 5 of American Idol. In May 2011, he opened Ore Drink and Dine in Birmingham, Alabama, which reopened in October 2012 as Saw’s Juke Joint, a barbecue and live-music bar. From 2016 to 2018, he hosted State Plate on the INSP channel for three seasons.

Morgan Wallen

Photo: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Robert Vicens · Public domain · Photo source.

Esera Tuaolo, Koryn Hawthorne and Tamara Jade had food businesses

Esera Tuaolo, eliminated in the playoffs on season 13 of The Voice, founded 98 Hawaiian Grill, which by March 2025 was operating at The House Food & Tap in St. Joseph, Minnesota. By September 2026, Tuaolo was seeking a Minneapolis location for 98 Hawaiian Grill and preparing to sell Mr. Aloha Sauces in local stores.

Koryn Hawthorne finished in fourth place on season 8 of The Voice. By May 2021, she had announced that she owned Peach Cobbler Factory Abbeville, a dessert business in Abbeville, Louisiana. Tamara Jade, eliminated in the season 19 semifinals of The Voice, started an online business selling ginger juice.

Esera Tuaolo

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LaToya London, Rachel Crow and Jan Dan attended culinary school

LaToya London finished fourth on season 3 of American Idol in 2004 and graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school. Rachel Crow finished in fifth place on season 1 of The X Factor and graduated from the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City in 2025.

Jan Dan, eliminated in the Top 8 on season 26 of The Voice, enrolled in culinary school after high school before writing, recording and producing music full-time.

LaToya London

Photo: Cia Gould · CC BY 2.0 · Photo source.

Paul McDonald founded a festival and Dia Frampton sold sausages

Paul McDonald, eliminated in eighth place on season 10 of American Idol, founded One Big Love, a Nashville music, food and arts festival for local nonprofits that began as a gospel brunch and pig roast in October 2022. Erin Willett, eliminated in the Top 8 on season 2 of The Voice, created BurgerJam, a weekly live-music night at Umami Burger in Williamsburg, in 2015.

Dia Frampton finished as the runner-up on season 1 of The Voice. She sold sausages and waited tables at a food stall in Grand Central Market in Los Angeles.

Paul McDonald

Photo: mtanne · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Photo source.

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