Tulisa, Kate Moss, Chris Brown: A gallery of the biggest celebrity comebacks!

Posted by Sophie Wilkinson on 17 July 2012 12:45 Comments

In last night's episode of Revenge, a former foe of Emily's made a big comeback. We thought we'd pay tribute to some of our favourite celebrities who've gone from great to bad to good again. All those stars who fell from grace only to return back to the limelight bigger and better than before.

What do you think of these comebacks? Agree, disagree? Did they all deserve to make a comeback?

Gallery

“Heartbroken” and “devastated” after ex-boyfriend Justin Edwards released a sex tape of her, Tulisa Contostavlos regained the public’s respect when went on record on YouTube to say that she was not sorry for what she had done, just that she had trusted the wrong person. Not only did her debut solo single Young reach number one, but she won against her ex in court. As she put it, ”he messed with the wrong woman”.

Kanye West made an absolute “jackass” of himself (President Obama’s words, not ours) at the 2009 VMAs by not letting Taylor Swift accept her award, suggesting that bezzie Beyonce should have got it instead. Hibernating from his mega-cringe, he took a year off and returned with My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, a Grammy-award winning album that impressed fans and critics alike. His fame has finally caught up with his ego, and he's now a massive star, selling out stadium shows alongside rapper pal Jay-Z.

In 2005, film footage was published of Kate Moss snorting a white powder, allegedly cocaine. Days later, the supermodel was dropped from her Burberry, H+M and Chanel contracts. Dior and Rimmel stuck by her, though. She checked herself into rehab, cleaned up her act, dumped badboy Pete Doherty and the police didn’t pursue a case against her for lack of evidence – really! She’s got her haters, but only a year after the scandal she had a whopping 18 contracts, earned $8 million. And now, well, at 38, she’s been modeling for a good 15 years longer than 99% of people in the industry!

After playing the lead in two of the best musicals ever (Grease and Saturday Night Fever) John Travolta disappeared in the 80’s. He returned to form with Look Who’s Talking and made it properly big with his role as a hitman in eccentric director Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 hit film Pulp Fiction. He continued starring in blockbusters for years, but there’s no telling how and if he’ll make a comeback from the recent allegations made against him in the American press...

Her first film, Glitter, bombed at the box office. And her vocals on album Charmbracelet were criticised for not being as banging as usual. She also started posting strange messages on her website. A pretty technologically advanced breakdown for 2001, we admit. After some time off, comeback album The Emancipation of Mimi was nominated for EIGHT Grammy awards, and 3am warble-along ballad We Belong Together helped Mariah (“Mimi” never really caught on, did it?) be a superstar again. She was also VERY good in Precious.

Whether you like it or not, Chris Brown has undeniably made a HUGE comeback after assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna three years ago. He won a Grammy this year, tweeting his haters: “HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That’s the ultimate F*** OFF!” And, selling 30,000 copies, he scored a number one in the UK with his album Fortune. He’s still not allowed in the UK though, owing to his criminal record.

In 2007, after just a day in a rehab facility in Antigua, Britney Spears went into a hairdressers in LA, took some clippers, and shaved all her hair off. The world's collective jaw dropped. This was a proper cry for help. The next year, album Blackout did very well, but she was put into psychiatric care for three weeks in 2008, and control of all of her assets was handed over to dad, James. However, Simon Cowell’s put her on the judging panel for The X Factor, and she's doing well. She's also engaged to good-guy Jason Trawick, and she seems to be (for the first time in ages) really happy!

After a good (or very, very bad) decade’s worth of drug-related problems – including arrests, stints in rehab and some strung-out mugshots, Robert Downey Jr turned his life around. He got clean and, with the financial backing of controversial Hollywood star Mel Gibson, got insured to act on various films. Eventually, he was safe for directors to cast and is now a proper movie star again, commanding millions per project.

After the successful Mysterious Girl and the just-about-memorable Flava, Peter Andre drifted into obscurity. In 2004, he appeared on I’m A Celebrity… and soon hooked up with Katie Price (just in case you’d been living in a cave for the past decade), and soon became a TV personality in his own right. Since married (and divorced) from the glamour-girl-turned-entrepreneur, he’s got his own TV show, perfumes, a coffee shop and an upcoming UK tour.

Drifting into obscurity, bad hair and failed solo careers after splitting in 1996, Howard Donald, Mark Owen, Jason Orange and Gary Barlow decided to do a reunion tour of the old hits in 2006. Some clever clogs had the bright idea to record new material, which was incredibly successful. Songs like Patience and a great new look - scruffy faces, preened suits - put them back on top as Britain’s best man-band!