Erin Moran

Erin Moran is a former child star best known for her role on the hit 1970s-1980s sitcom, Happy Days.  Moran went from one of the hottest young TV stars in the early 1980s until Happy Days was cancelled, at which point her career completely derailed until she attempted an-ill advised comeback on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp nearly 25 years later.  [Summaries of the Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp episodes may be found here.]

Erin Moran was born on October 18, 1960 in Burbank, California and broke into the acting business at a young age.  As a 7-year-old child, she had a recurring role on the TV show, Daktari, appearing in 15 episodes during the fourth season of the show about a veterinarian running an animal study center in Africa.  Moran followed up on this initial success with minor roles in several other TV shows, such as Death Valley Days, My Three Sons, Family Affair, Gunsmoke, and The Waltons.  Moran also appeared in several motion pictures such as 80 Steps to Jonah, The Happy Ending, and Watermelon Man.

Moran's star was rising as she was becoming known as a child actress, leading to her being cast in her signature role as Joanie Cunningham on the long-running hit 1950's-era nostalgia sitcom, Happy Days, in 1974.

Happy Days was one of the most popular TV shows during its original airing of 11 seasons between 1974 and 1984.  Moran was a regular on the show as the young teenage daughter of the Cunnginham family for all but the 10th season of the show, at which point she was cast in a lead role in the unsuccessful spin-off show, Joanie Loves Chachi.

Joanie Cunningham was a somewhat annoyed, yet wholesome, young woman on Happy Days and a popular character among American youths.  Erin Moran must have thought that she was on top of the world by the early 1980s as she undoubtedly made millions during her time on Happy Days and became incredibly famous.

However, Moran was in for a rude awakening after Happy Days was cancelled in 1984 as her career quickly derailed.  Moran appeared in two episodes of The Love Boat in 1985 and in an episode of Murder, She Wrote in 1986.  Moran has appeared as herself in TV shows such as Hollywood Squares and in the movie Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star.  However, Moran had to wait 12 long years until 1998 until appearing in her next role other than as herself in a single episode of Diagnosis Murder.  Unfortunately, her role in Diagnosis Murder did not reinvigorate her career as she must have thought it would.

With her back up against the wall, Moran made one last-ditch effort to return to the limelight by agreeing to appear in 2008's Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp.  Moran also appeared in a single episode of Scott Baio Is 45... And Single the prior year, in 2007. Moran embarassed herself on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, coming across as almost as washed up as the poster child of washed up actors, Dustin Diamond.  Moran was the only contestant on the show who didn't seem to take the show seriously as show lost only 3 pounds, a mere 2.4% of her body weight, during the show.  Her lack of effort completely screwed over her own team, costing them a victory in a competition to lose weight and body fat.  Her lackadaisical effort cost she and her three teammates about $150,000 in prizes, as I discuss in detail in the summary of the last episode of the season on which she appeared.

During Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp, Moran all but admitted that she didn't care about losing weight and claimed that she only came onto the show because she needed the money.

Her appearance on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp did not reinvigorate her career the way she must have hoped it would.  She did appear in minor roles in the TV movie Mother Goose Parade, the TV show The Bold and Beautiful, and the movie Not Another B Movie, in 2009-10.  However, she has not had any other roles since 2010.  She was rumored to be appearing in the fourth season of Arrested Development in 2013, although she did not end up appearing in the show.

As Moran's career floundered, it appears as though her personal life has also floundered, possibly as a result of burning many bridges while she was at the height of her career.  Moran supposedly appeared on an episode of the Maury Povich Show and claimed that she was "molested" by several male cast members when she was on Happy Days.  However, Moran neglected to corroborate these claims and she disappeared after a return from a commercial break.  Moran later claimed that her own family, not any other actors, abused her. 

Moran also joined in a lawsuit with several other former Happy Days cast members, claiming that they not been paid for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.  Moran eventually received a $65,000 settlement.  Unfortunately, however, the windfall did not last long for Moran.

In 2012 it was reported that Moran was broke and lost her California home to foreclosure, forcing her to move in with her husband's mother-in-law in a trailer park in Indiana.  It was also reported in 2012 that Moran flashed her saggy breasts while at a bar in 2012 and apparently nobody knew who she was!  One of the bar's patron's reportedly said, "Who the heck is Erin Moran?"

Moran also supposedly really boozed things up, to the annoyance of her mother-in-law.  The mother-in-law eventually decided that she had enough of Moran's "hard-partying ways" and kicked her out near the end of 2012, rendering Moran homeless, causing her to bounce from hotel-to-hotel.

There is apparently no love lost between Moran and her former Happy Days and Joanie Loves Chachi co-star Scott Baio.  Baio stated that he knew about Moran's personal troubles, but did not want to help her.  One can only speculate as to what Moran must have done to cause this lack of concern from Baio.

Erin Moran was once one of the most promising young actresses in Hollywood between the mid-1970s and hte mid-1980s.  However, she apparently burned too many bridges and spent her money unwisely, resulting in her being essentially homeless and destitute today.  Accordingly, there can be no doubt that she is one hell of a washed-up celebrity!

Richard Hatch

Richard Hatch is a celebrity unlike any other celebrity I have profiled here. He became famous as the $1,000,000 grand prize winner of the first installment of the hit reality show, Survivor back in 2000. He went from parading around discussing his Survivor victory and hosting a $300k+ radio show host gig after Survivor to serving a prison sentence for tax evasion and spouting conspiracy theories to deflect criticism from himself.

Hatch was born on April 8, 1961 in Rhode Island. Hatch is an openly gay man and searched for direction for many years as a young adult. He spent five years in the United States Army, two of which were at the United States Military Academy where he studied management. However, Hatch dropped out of the Military Academy after two years. Hatch also spent some time studying Oceanography and Marine Biology at Florida Institute of Technology, and General Studies at George Mason University, and a Masters' program in Education and Counseling at Providence College in Rhode Island.

Hatch adopted a son named Christopher because his gay lover was incapable of bearing his children. However, Hatch experienced some parental difficulties and was arrested and charged with child abuse in April 2000, after his son alleged to a school official that his father had pushed his face in the ground while doing push-ups. The charges were dropped a month later after a judge ruled that Hatch's son had exaggerated the details of the incident.

Back in 2000, Hatch was working as a corporate trainer when he found out that a new reality show was auditioning contestants by asking them to send in videotapes of themselves showing off their personalities. Hatch sent in a tape and was selected to appear on the first installment of the hugely successful Survivor reality show. The first season was entitled, Survivor: Borneo.





In Survivor: Borneo, Hatch was marooned with 15 other contestants on the Borneo island in Malaysia. The 16 contestants were initially divided into tribes of 8 contestants and one contestant was voted out at the end of each episode. The contestants generally had to fend for themselves in large part and Hatch was a valuable member of his team because he was physically strong, a good swimmer and fisher, and showed leadership skills. He famously formed a secret alliance with several other of his teammates, including the crusty former Navy SEAL, Rudy Boesch.

Although Hatch was a strong contestant, he did annoy the other contestants by periodically parading around the island naked with his balls and ass hanging out for the world to see. Hatch would occasionally sit naked on logs at his tribe camp, disturbing other contestants and rendering the logs unusable and reeking of the smell of ass. About his nakedness, Hatch said, "It's funny when I hear, 'How come you're naked all the time.' I'm naked less then 1% of the time. I'd like to be naked all the time. That would be smarter in this 100 degree weather."


One of his tribe mates, Sean Kenniff, assumed that Hatch was walking around naked because he wanted to hook up with some of the other male contestants or possibly even the camera crew. Kenniff said, "If there's any horny gay men out there that want a horny guy in return, I know one."


Hatch celebrated his 39th birthday while on the island by stripping naked. Hatch said, "I'm 39 today and I had intended for quite a long time to celebrate my birthday naked."

Another tribe mate, Jenna Lewis, said, "It felt awkward sitting next to a naked gay man. If he had something to cover the butt crack area, I'd be cool with that."


Rudy Boesch said, "When I go home, if my wife asks me, 'Who was with you," I'll say the queer who ran around bare-ass half the time." Despite his disapproval of Hatch's homosexual lifestyle and nakedness on the island, Hatch said, "Me and Richard got to be pretty good friends; not in a homosexual way, that's for sure."

Hatch's secret alliance proved to be successful as he was one of the last two contestants on the show. Hatch eventually won the $1 million grand prize in a close vote over the second place contestant, Kelly Wiglesworth.

Survivor: Borea aired for 13 weeks between the end of May and August 2000 and proved to be a tremendous success. The finale of Survivor was reported watched by 51.7 million viewers, making it the second-highest viewership of any American television episode during the first decade of the 21st century, exceeded only by the finale of Friends.

The success of Survivor: Borneo made Hatch a big star in 2000 and he was showered with offers. Hatch accepted an offer to co-host "Wilde Show," a Boston morning radio show for a salary of over $320k. Hatch also wrote the motivation book, "101 Survival Secrets: How to Win $1,000,000, Lose 100 Pounds, and Just Plain Live Happily" that was published in October 2000.

Hatch was having the time of his life as a big star during the early years of this decade. He even appeared on the Australian version of the popular game show, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire," where he famously answered the $500 question incorrectly and left with no prize money.

However, Hatch's massive ego and hubris eventually led him astray as Hatch thought that he was invincible. Hatch never paid any taxes on the Survivor grand prize or the $320k+ that he received from his radio co-host gig. The IRS eventually came after he for unpaid taxes in 2005, and stated Hatch would be charged with filing a false tax return. Hatch initially agreed to plea guilty in exchange for a lenient sentence. However, Hatch withdrew from the arrangement, claiming that CBS had arranged to pay his taxes before awarding him prize money back in 2000.

Hatch's withdrawal from the plea agreement apparently pissed off the IRS, as they aggressively pursed their case against him. Hatch was indicted in 10-count indictment for failing to report income from Survivor and his radio show, as well as additional charges that he failed to report rental income from properties he owned, failed to declare an automobile he won on Survivor, used money as personal income that was paid to a charity organization he had set up, and submitted false tax statements.

A jury found Hatch guilty of tax evasion, although he was acquitted of seven bank, mail and wire fraud charges. On May 16, 2006 Hatch was sentenced to 51 months in prison, plus three years of supervised release after serving his sentence and began serving his sentence immediately. I wonder whether Hatch walked around naked throughout the prison like he did on Survivor. If so, one has to wonder whether his sphincter "survived" his prison sentence. Hatch served nearly a full 3 years in prison until being released on Thursday, May 14, 2009 to serve a period of home confinement.

On August 18, 2009, he was re-arrested and taken into federal custody for granting two supposedly unauthorized interviews with Access Hollywood and Rhode Island NBC affiliate WJAR. During the interviews, Hatch mentioned that he was broke and bitter about his predicament. Prisoners under house arrest are required to get permission from the federal Bureau of Prisons before any media contact. Hatch remained in prison until October 16, 2009 when he was released.

Notwithstanding the various felonies that Hatch committed, he maintains that he was prosecuted for committing his various felonies because "he is gay."

Richard Hatch rose from obscurity to be one of the most discussed celebrities in 2000 trough his cunning strategies that he implemented in his appearance on the smash hit Survivor: Borneo. However, Hatch quickly lost all of his money and the good will he had earned by evading taxes and then landing in prison for several years after foolishly spurning a plea agreement with the IRS. Hatch's arrogance and rapid fall from grace show that there can be no doubt that Richard Hatch is one washed-up celebrity!

*** Update - April 10, 2011 ***

Richard Hatch recently appeared on Celebrity Apprentice. Hatch made it through the fifth week before being "fired" after failing to sell artwork during a competition on the show.

Hatch was also sent back to prison for another nine months in March 2011 for tax evasion. Hatch reportedly still owes that IRS $2 million in taxes and penalties. Hatch is also being pursed by Malaysian authorities for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won in 2000 on Survivor. Hatch has been all but begging someone to give him the money to pay off Malaysian authorities!

Dustin Diamond

Dustin Diamond is the most washed-up celebrity of his generation and one of the most washed-up former child stars in the history of television. I had four separate entries for Diamond on the Washed-Up Celebrities list on the right side of this blog and decided they were taking up too much space. Hot links for the various Dustin Diamond entries are shown below:

• Dustin Diamond - The Early Years
• Dustin Diamond (2000 - Present)
• Dustin Diamond (2007 Celebrity Fit Club Appearance)
• Dustin Diamond (2008 CFC: Boot Camp Appearance)