16 celebrities and reality TV stars who turned to politics from Trump to Katie Price
Donald Trump, Cynthia Nixon, and Katie Price are all examples of celebrities that have made moves into politics at some point in their careers. (Getty)
Donald Trump, Cynthia Nixon, and Katie Price are all examples of celebrities that have made moves into politics at some point in their careers. (Getty)
Trisha Paytas‘ announcement that she intends to run for a seat in the US House of Representatives in her home state, California, has come as a surprise to many.
As someone put on X/Twitter on Tuesday (6 January): “Trisha Paytas announcing that she is running for the House of Representatives was not on my 2026 bingo card.”
Since then, Spencer Pratt, a reality TV star, has announced his own political aspirations by launching a campaign to become the Mayor of Los Angeles.
But should we be surprised at this point? And even more so, should we doubt their ability to succeed? Have we also not learned from who’s in the White House (for a second time!).
Paytas, Pratt, and even Donald Trump are hardly the first celebrities to turn to politics. Here’s a few more.
Trisha Paytas
The YouTuber and podcast host announced her intention to run for the US House of Representatives in a video titled “2026 MANIFESTATIONS”.
Posted on Tuesday, it sees Paytas enjoying a meal from the notoriously anti-LGBTQ+ food chain, Chick-fil-A, and explaining some of her thoughts.
In a TikTok video, also posted on Tuesday, Paytas added: “I never thought of myself as a political person until I started having kids and realising, like, the world could be just so disastrous.”
One thing she’s expressed an interest in doing is introducing a bill making sex work legal from the age of 25.
Spencer Pratt
Starting his reality TV career in the early 2000s with shows like The Princes of Malibu and The Hills, Pratt went on to feature in I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here and the UK’s Celebrity Big Brother.
Pratt announced his bid for LA Mayor on Wednesday (7 January) at an event organised by those who lost their homes in the 2025 Palisades Fire where Pratt and his wife, Heidi Montag, also live.
The BBC reported Pratt said: “Business as usual is a death sentence for Los Angeles.” He also said: “I’m done waiting for someone to take real action. That’s why I am running for mayor.”
Donald Trump
Perhaps the most well known celebrity to have entered politics (and succeeded, twice) is President Donald J. Trump.
The Celebrity Apprentice star first ran for the Presidency in 2016, defeating the Democratic candidate, Hillary Clinton.
It was a chaotic presidency with Trump taking many anti-LGBTQ+ actions. Thankfully it ended in 2020 when Joe Biden won the Presidency.
Sadly, Trump never went away and defeated Kamala Harris in 2024 to return to the White House a year ago. Need we say more…
Cynthia Nixon
The Sex and the City star announced her bid to run for the Governor of New York in March 2018. Quickly she was put down by a senior Democrat who described her as “an unqualified lesbian”.
Taking a progressive stance, Nixon challenged Andrew Cuomo and could have been the state’s first out-gay governor.
Sadly, she wasn’t well supported by Democrats and LGBTQ+ groups including the Stonewall Democrats, the Democratic Party’s official LGBT caucus.
She ultimately lost the primary race to Cuomo but has remained a passionate advocate since.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Famous for roles such as The Terminator and Kindergarten Cop, few (if anyone) could have predicted that such a star would turn to politics at all. Though, this was pre-Trump.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, first ran for the Governor of California position in 2003, getting elected in a recall election. He was later re-elected in 2006.
Throughout his time as Governor, Schwarzenegger called for more spending on US infrastructure as well as a deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq after the 2003 invasion.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Famously a comedian and broadcaster before he became the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also featured on Ukraine’s version of Dancing with the Stars, winning in 2006.
Zelenskyy also dubbed the voice of Paddington Bear for 2014’s Paddington and 2017’s Paddington 2. He also starred in the TV series Servant of the People in which he played a teacher who won the Ukrainian Presidential election.
In 2018 he announced he was running for the actual position of President, running on a platform of anti-establishment and inclusionary politics.
In 2019, he was elected with 73% of the vote, ousting Petro Poroshenko. He has since gone on to lead his country through Russia’s invasion.
Suzy Eddie Izzard
The actor and comedian came out as trans in 1985 and is known for films such as Five Children and It, Dress to Kill, and Force Majeure.
In 2023, she put her name forward to be the Labour candidate for Brighton Pavilion at the 2024 general election.
But she was not selected, with the Mercury-Prize-winning musician Tom Gray contesting the seat for Labour instead. It was her second attempt after trying the same in Sheffield Central in 2022.
Clay Aiken
Placing second on American Idol in 2003 it would be another 11 years before Aiken tried his hand at politics.
In 2014, he ran for North Carolina’s second congressional district in the US House of Representatives. While he won the Democratic primary he was defeated by the Republican candidate, Renee Ellmers.
Aiken then tried running in another North Carolina district in 2022 but was defeated in the primary stage. He aimed to challenge White supremacy, racism and homophobia.
Dave Rowntree
Blur’s drummer has run unsuccessfully for seats on Westminster City Council as well as to become the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster and Norwich South over the years.
In 2017 he was elected as a county councillor for the University ward of Norfolk County Council, which he left prior to the 2021 election.
Then in 2024, the Blur band member was selected by Labour as the candidate for the Mid Sussex Parliamentary seat. He was beaten in the race by the Liberal Democrat candidate, Alison Bennett.
Ronald Reagan
A former actor, Reagan‘s time as President is a painful one for the LGBTQ+ community given it’s remembered for a disastrously slow response to the HIV/AIDs crisis of the 1980s.
Reagan’s silence on the issue is considered to have led to the deaths of thousands of people across the US, including Reagan’s friend and Hollywood actor, Rock Hudson.
In 1982, when Reagan’s press secretary was asked if the president was tracking the spread of “the gay plague”, the room erupted in laughter as he replied: “I don’t have it, do you?”
Stacey Dash
The Clueless and CSI star and former Democrat announced her run as a Republican candidate for California’s 44th Congressional District in February 2018.
It was a short lived run however, as she exited the race a month later citing “overall bitterness surrounding our political process” and the rigours of campaigning as her reasons.
Katie Price
At 23, Katie Price – aka Jordan – ran as an Independent MP for the Stretford and Urmston seat in the 2001 election with the campaign slogan: “For a Bigger and Betta Future.”
Speaking at an event in Old Trafford, the model said: “My policies are to make things fun. The election is boring. I’m here to spice things up,” as reported by the BBC.
She also promised free plastic surgery as well as cheap package holidays on the National Health Service… Ultimately, she only got 713 votes and lost the race.
Kanye ‘Ye’ West
In July 2020, West announced he intended to run in the Presidential election taking place that year.
Previously a Trump supporter, he ran independently as the Birthday Party. He explained to Forbes: “When we win, it’s everybody’s ‘birthday’.”
Pitching his America-first as well as faith-based run as a way to disrupt the two-party political system in the US, West failed to make much headway, only capturing 66,365 votes in the few states he was on the ballot for.
West also said he’d run in 2024 but it was confirmed in 2023 he was not.
Shirley Temple
The famed child actress entered politics in her late thirties with an unsuccessful run at becoming the representative of California’s 11th congressional district for the Republicans in 1967.
While that didn’t work out for the iconic screen star, she later became a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly for President Nixon between 1969 and 1970.
She was then made the US Ambassador to Ghana between 1974 and 1976 by President Ford, before serving as the US Ambassador to Czechoslovakia under George H. W. Bush between 1989 and 1992.
Kal Penn
The Harold & Kumar star, who came out publicly in 2021, joined President Obama’s administration in 2009.
In his role as Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs, Penn worked as a liaison between Obama and Asian-American, as well as Pacific Islander communities.
He also served as a co-chair of Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012, later joining the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.
He has since supported Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris in their presidential elections, as well as Zohran Mamdani in his successful run at becoming New York’s Mayor.
Caitlyn Jenner
The former Olympian and also reality TV star launched her campaign to be the governor of California in 2021 describing herself as a “compassionate disruptor”.
The Republican and Trump supporter finished in 13th place in the end, securing just one percent of the vote after a campaign in which she said trans girls shouldn’t be allowed to play in school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.
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