Paul Danan forced to work in phone shop after TV stint 'ruined career'

Paul Danan on Celebrity Big Brother prior to his death (Image: Getty)

The late Paul Danan, whose tragic death was announced on Thursday morning, has appeared on Love Island, Celebrity Big Brother and Channel 4 soap Hollyoaks.

Yet in spite of his TV fame - and having professional training at prestigious theatre school Italia Conti under his belt - he ended up toiling away in a shop. To help him earn money during dry spells in the acting world, he assisted customers who needed their phone screens fixed.

Those who knew Paul as heart-throb Sol from Hollyoaks in the late 1990s - and then a Love Island hunk in 2005 - might have been surprised to find him mucking in at the I Smashed It store. At the time, however, he blamed his foray into reality TV for jeopardising a promising future in acting.

"I worked in a place called I Smashed It, which is where if you if you drop your iPhone and the screen smashes, then we'll fix the screen for you," he admitted. "That was just to get a bit of money on the side."

Paul added to MailOnline: "I probably didn't want to do a reality show did I? I should have just stuck to my acting." Initially, it had seemed Love Island was a career opportunity sent from heaven.

Paul Danan at an airport back in his Love Island days (Image: Getty)

"I've never known fame like it. I've never seen people go so mental. Four years on a soap opera - that was nothing compared to these six weeks [in terms] of the stature of fame," he revealed on the Dozen podcast.

However, Paul, who appeared on the show in 2005, craved "respect as an actor", and found that "suddenly people were like 'Oh, we don't want to hire a reality star!'

"Casting directors were a bit snobby like that, they don't want people to see me on a TV show thinking 'Isn't that the guy from Love Island?'"

He added: "It wasn't good for my acting career and it took a long time to get that back. I don't know if it's even fully redeemed even all these years later."

Paul recalled that he was also forced to work as a salesperson in a clothing store to make ends meet, believing the acting profession at that time felt reality stars lacked credibility.

He also battled addiction, spent time in rehab and was once hospitalised after struggling to breathe due to a vaping habit.

However, he'd been attempting to get a better footing in the acting world right up to his death, and revealed in his final Instagram post last week that he was to audition for a role in Shakespeare play Twelfth Night.

His untimely departure will leave irreplaceable voids in the lives of all who knew him."