Cabin crew jobs: Famous celebrities who used to work as flight attendants before rising to fame - including surprising faces
Several celebrities worked as cabin crew before they rose to fame - including some faces you would find surprising.
The celebrities include popular reality TV stars and royalty. Recently easyJet launched its new recruitment drive for cabin crew for over 50s. It followed research that showed nearly three quarters of them agreed it was the perfect age to change careers.
The campaign has been launched ahead of the airline’s annual recruitment drive this month with hundreds of cabin crew roles available for 2025. Maybe this career could be the one for you - and these famous faces could give you some inspiration.
Kris Jenner
Kris is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She rose to fame starring in the reality television series Keeping Up with the Kardashians with her family.
Before becoming a world-famous reality TV star, Jenner spent one year as a flight attendant for American Airlines. Alfred M. Garcia, Jenner's ex-boyfriend and professional photographer told the Daily Mail that Jenner might have become a cabin crew member because "maybe she could meet more people than she could working in a store.”
He added: "She was very friendly with people, and she was always looking out for the gold at the end of the rainbow." Jenner was in the air for one year before she married Robert Kardashian.
Carole Middleton
The mother of the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, previously worked as ground staff for British Airways. She met Michael Middleton when he was also working as ground crew before going on to become a flight dispatcher, while Carole later became a cabin crew member.
The pair tied the knot and had three children together including The Princess of Wales. As a busy mum of three, Carole launched her own business selling decorations for parties, which made her millions.
Evangeline Lilly
Before Lilly landed her breakout role on TV show Lost, she worked as a flight attendant for Royal Airlines. In 2007 in an interview with David Letterman, she said: "That job has no redeeming qualities. I didn't like the people. I didn't like the destinations. I didn't like the recycled air, the c****y food. "
A few years later, she told Jay Leno that she'd been suffering from a bad case of wind on one flight as well as an awful passenger. Later, Lilly found fame on the small screen, and played Hope Van Dyne in the Marvel Cinematic's Universe Ant Man.
Brian Dowling
Brian Dowling found fame after he won the second series of Big Brother. He was previously a member of cabin crew for Ryanair.
In a chat on Instagram with The Only Way Is Essex star Bobby Norris, Brian recalled about his time as a flight attendant: "It was so much fun but looking back on it now, the public can be very very testing at times." He was often spat at, slapped, bitten and even groped.
He said: "I remember one day I had a physical altercation with a passenger, like a physical fight with a woman. We actually fell on the ground, we were rolling around. It was like Dynasty. It was so camp."
Laura Anderson
Laura finished as a runner-up on the 2018 series of Love Island, but before entering the villa, Laura was a cabin crew member for Emirates. She worked as crew for 10 years and met celebrities like Channing Tatum and rapper Example.
She said: “The crew don’t care. We’re not the fun police. Or the sex police. It’s not really a safety issue unless there’s turbulence. In Emirates’ toilets it’s so easy to hide as there’s like six of them.
"I’ve seen people getting jiggy in their suites. There’s doors to get in first. But you can see over the top."
Lucinda Strafford
Before becoming an influencer and contestant on season 7 of Love Island, Lucinda worked as a member of cabin crew for British Airways. She told the Daily Star: “I remember finding this very intense, and worried that I would get kicked off the course if I didn’t pass certain tests.
“You get no freebies, and no extra tips. I did like working in business class, but depending on how big that cabin was on the aircraft, it could actually be more work than economy.” When Lucinda was made redundant, she decided to hang up her flying wings for good.