17 Celebrities That Went On Game Shows Before They Were FamousSkip To ContentHomepageSign InSearch BuzzFeedSearch BuzzFeedlol Badge Feedwin Badge Feedtrending Badge FeedCalifornia residents can opt out of "sales" of personal data.Do Not Sell My Personal Information 2022 BuzzFeed, Inc PressRSSPrivacyConsent PreferencesUser TermsAd ChoicesHelpContactSitemapPosted on 21 May 2022 17 Celebs That I Never Knew Were Contestants On Game Shows Before They Made It Big Aaron Paul on The Price Is Right is something to behold. by Benjamin DzialdowskiBuzzFeed StaffFacebookPinterestTwitterMailLink 1 Lady Gaga appeared on Boiling Points MTV, Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty Images Before she became the massive star we now know her to be, Stefani Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, appeared on MTV's hidden camera show Boiling Points. People are awarded prize money in the show if they remain calm in troubling situations (without knowing they're being filmed). It's fair to say Stefani was NOT happy with what happened. View this video on YouTube youtube.com 2 A young and excitable Aaron Paul appeared on The Price Is Right CBS / Syndicated, Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic for HBO / Via Getty Images Yes, Aaron Paul's first TV appearance came on The Price Is Right, the game show where the contestants must guess the prices of merchandise in order to win money or prizes. Aaron had to guess the price of a sports car, and came painstakingly close to getting it! Hard luck, Aaron, it all worked out in the end though! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 3 John Ritter appeared as a bachelor on The Dating Game Nbc / NBCUniversal via Getty Images, ABC A fresh-faced John Ritter was one of three bachelors that a woman would have to choose from to accompany her on a date. It's easy to see that he was always one for comedy and acting, pulling some excellent facial expressions, and even getting the date! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 4 Simon Cowell was a contestant on Sale of the Century Nbc / NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images, Sky One The TV personality's first exploits on-screen came on the British version of this bargain-based game show where contestants answer questions with the chance to win prizes. Simon went on twice, but actually only went home with around £20 worth of kitchen utensils. View this video on YouTube youtube.com 5 Jon Hamm participated in The Big Date game show USA Network, Morgan Lieberman / FilmMagic / Via Getty Images The Mad Men star was on the show in his 20s. Similar to The Dating Game, Jon competed alongside two other bachelors to win the heart of a woman who would choose one to go on a date with. Sadly for Jon, he hadn't quite mastered the trademark Don Draper smooth-talking, and was rejected! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 6 Another The Price Is Right contestant was Linda Cardellini CBS / Syndicated, Morgan Lieberman / FilmMagic / Via Getty Images Linda's on-screen debut was this price-guessing game show, too, and she was just as excitable as young Aaron. Linda showed her smarts and actually won! She took home a fireplace — an odd prize, especially for someone so young. View this video on YouTube youtube.com 7 Paul Walker was on the children s game show I m Telling NBC, Jon Kopaloff / FilmMagic A very young Paul went on the game show with his sister Ashlie. The show is essentially the same format as the 'newlywed' game but with siblings. His cheeky, smiley attitude was clearly right there from a young age! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 8 Olly Murs took on the banker in Deal or No Deal Channel 4, Dave J Hogan / Dave J Hogan / Via Via Prior to Olly's rise to fame as a result of X-Factor, he appeared on British screens alongside host Noel Edmunds to attempt to eliminate his way, box by box, to lots of money in Deal or No Deal. The X-Factor alum wasn't slow to deliver some showmanship, moonwalking onto the stage with his box and at one point flashing some underwear. It wasn't a successful appearance for Olly, though; having been offered £22,000 at one point, he left with only £10. View this video on YouTube youtube.com 9 Stephen Merchant was a contestant on Blockbusters BBC 2, Michael Tran / FilmMagic / Via Getty Images The co-writer/director and star of The Office tried his luck on this British game show where the contestant must navigate their way around the game board hexagons by answering trivia questions. Stephen speaks about doing a bit of writing here and there and wanting to get into broadcasting, and boy did he! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 10 Kirstie Alley was on Match Game CBS / NBC, Nbc / NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images The Cheers star was a contestant on the game show where she had to fill in the blanks and match the answers of the celebrity guests. Kirstie correctly guessed the answer of her final celebrity, and she won $5,000! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 11 Arnold Schwarzenegger also appeared on The Dating Game ABC, Isabel Infantes - Pa Images / PA Images via Getty Images This dating-oriented game show was evidently quite the breeding ground for future stars. While Arnold had received his 'Mr. Olympia' and 'Mr. Universe' titles, he was still early in his ascent to stardom when he went onto The Dating Game. Unlike John Ritter, Arnold went onto the show as the one who would pick one of three women to accompany him on a date, but only by talking to them, not seeing. He and his chosen date were flown to Hawaii with complimentary water skis, too! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 12 Naughty Boy Shahid Khan was on Deal or No Deal Channel 4, Dave J Hogan / Via Getty Images It seems like this game show was the place to go for future musicians, as Naughty Boy also appeared on the show, taking on the banker and the boxes to try to win big. The British DJ did a lot better than Olly Murs, though, going home with £44,000! And like Stephen Merchant, Naughty spoke about his dream to be a musician which eventually came true with help from the Deal or No Deal prize money. View this video on YouTube youtube.com 13 Vanna White was a contestant on The Price Is Right CBS, Christopher Willard / ABC via Getty Images Vanna White was destined to be a gameshow icon, and she got her first taste of it when she appeared on The Price Is Right. The long-running Wheel of Fortune host wasn't too successful on the price-guessing game, but she would soon find her success in the game show realm, joining Wheel of Fortune only two years after this episode aired! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 14 Farrah Fawcett was another one to grace The Dating Game pre-fame ABC, Pictorial Parade / Getty Images Like Arnold, she, too, had the task of choosing from three potential candidates to accompany her on a date. Seven years on, Farrah would have a starring role in the first season of Charlie's Angels! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 15 AJ McLean of the Backstreet Boys was on Nickelodeon s Guts Nickelodeon, Kevin Winter / Via Getty Images AJ was on this extremely fun-looking game show as a kid, competing against two other children in a series of challenges and obstacle courses for points. Sadly, it didn't go the way he wanted, and he eventually lost out to Jamie. Imagine being able to say that you beat a Backstreet Boy on a game show; that's a real claim to fame for Jamie! View this video on YouTube youtube.com 16 Amanda Holden was on Blind Date as a 19-year-old ITV, Mike Marsland The TV personality got her on-screen debut on the British dating show, even though she was actually engaged at the time! When she was asked who she would have a 'knees-up' with if she could choose anyone, she said 'Jack Nicholson.' She definitely displayed no shyness on this appearance, going straight in with talking about the bachelor's "podgy bits." View this video on YouTube youtube.com 17 Bonus Ke$ha was on an episode of The Simple Life — with Paris Hilton Fox, Jesse Grant / Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter It's not strictly a game show, but every good game show has a bonus round, and Ke$ha's pre-fame appearance on The Simple Life has to be mentioned! This was the show where Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie would swap their wealthy, socialite routines for the more rural, farm-work type lives. In Season 3, the pair ended up staying in Ke$ha's family home! This was the singer's debut on-screen appearance, and it involved her, Paris, and Nicole finding her mother a suitable man to date. View this video on YouTube youtube.com What are your favourite celeb appearances on game shows Let us know in the comments below Share This ArticleFacebook PinterestTwitterMailLink BuzzFeed DailyKeep up with the latest daily buzz with the BuzzFeed Daily newsletter!This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.