The Covid-19 pandemic was a weird time to say the least, but during those months of lockdown and endless nothingness, a few names rose to fame (or infamy)
It’s been five years since the world was ground to a halt by the coronavirus pandemic.
Offices were shut, nightlife ended and suddenly lounging around in your pants all day was no longer frowned upon. During the months of lockdown, we all got our enjoyment out of life wherever we could.
And in that time, a handful of names emerged to the forefront of our minds. Whether they were in a Netflix show that everybody binged because they quite literally had nothing better to do, or a politician who got caught breaking their own rules, the pandemic brought a new level of fame (or infamy) to a select few.
As we hit the five-year mark since that first, awful lockdown, Daily Star is taking a look at what happened to some of the most memorable faces of the Covid era in the years that followed.
Joe Wicks
Fitness fanatic Joe Wicks got everyone moving during the pandemic with his at-home work-outs. When it was announced that schools would be shutting, he launched PE With Joe to provide free exercise classes on YouTube every weekday.
It was an instant success, with millions of families around the world taking part. He even broke the record for the largest streamed workout on YouTube on its second day, with 955,000 people watching.
Rather than cash in himself, though, Joe donated the money generated from the YouTube ads to NHS Charities Together. The move raised more than £500,000.
Since then, Joe, known as The Body Coach, has continued his already-existing career in fitness. He still posts work-outs and advice videos on YouTube, and also has a paid-for app along the same lines.
The 39-year-old was already a published writer before his boom in popularity, and has released four more books since 2020. One of them was about food for babies, and since then he has had two more children with wife Rosie Jones, bringing their brood up to four.
Sadly, Joe shared with fans at the end of last year that he’d been rushed to hospital after suffering a painful accident. Fearing a broken ankle, Joe told fans he had “ligament damage” and had to cancel plans for a 5k New Year’s Day walk around Virginia Lake.
Luckily, he’s back to his best now, sharing delicious recipes on his social media.
Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings was one of the early villains of the pandemic. At the time, he was Chief Adviser to then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson. The nation was already unhappy, due to the strict (or so we thought) rules about lockdown.
On March 27, 2020, Boris announced he’d been diagnosed with Covid. The same day, Dominic’s wife Mary Wakefield told him she felt unwell, and Dominic was seen rushing home from 10 Downing Street.
They believed it was likely she had caught Covid and he might catch it too. They were reportedly worried they would become too sick to look after their four-year-old son, so drove from London to Durham to stay near his family.
Dominic woke up the next day with Covid symptoms which would then worsen. It was confirmed on March 30 that Dominic was self-isolating at home – though there was no mention of him having travelled to Durham.
On April 12, when Dominic was reportedly well enough to travel, the family went to Barnard Castle, around 30 miles from Durham. He claimed it was to test if he was well enough to drive.
However the scandal erupted as, according to the government’s lockdown rules, he should not have been travelling anywhere, let alone to the other end of the country.
On May 25 he spoke in a press conference, claiming there was “no regulation covering the situation I found myself in”. He claimed he had told Boris of his plans, but neither could remember much due to the condition of their health.
He resigned from his position as Chief Adviser on November 13 the same year. The following year, he would claim he left London to go to Durham because of security threats against his family, finally admitting he was wrong for not telling the nation of his “terrible misjudgement” and decision.
Fast-forward to May 2024, and it was reported that he was preparing for a new political party that could replace the Conservatives. He instead dropped the plan, and instead turned his support to Reform UK.
Earlier this year, it was reported that Dominic was in contact with Elon Musk, who at the time was launching scathing attacks on Keir Starmer and the Labour government.
Weeks later, Dominic admitted he orchestrated the downfall of Boris Johnson, who he claimed was “vandalising the country”.
Jackie Weaver
Jackie Weaver came out of nowhere to become a pandemic favourite. She was not a celebrity or even widely known outside of her local community.
One day in late 2020, she was leading the Handforth Parish Council meeting, part of her role as chief officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils. The meeting, done via Zoom, was recorded and in early 2021 went viral online.
The meeting was thrown into chaos as other members starting arguing among themselves and furiously shouting over each other. Jackie threatened to remove people from the meeting if they did not behave themselves.
It brought us the phrase: “You have no authority here, Jackie Weaver!” And she was trending all over social media.
She was so popular, that she even featured in the opening of the 2021 BRIT Awards, with the likes of Jack Whitehall and Vicky McClure taking part in a skit mocking the viral council meeting. Andrew Lloyd Webber even wrote a song called An Ode To Jackie Weaver.
In 2024, a report commissioned by Cheshire East Council found that Jackie Weaver really did have no authority to remove people from the meeting.
Captain Tom
Captain Sir Thomas Moore was one of the few people bringing smiles to our faces every day. At the age of 99, on April 6, 2020, he began walking 100 lengths of his garden in aid of NHS Charities Together, aiming to raise £1,000 by the time he turned 100 on April 30.
During that time, his story was picked up and everyone in the UK knew his name. In just 24 days, he had more than 1.5million donations.
He went on to receive the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Helen Rollasan Award in 2020, and released a cover version of You’ll Never Walk Alone, which topped the UK Singles Chart.
On his 100th birthday, it was revealed that his daily walks had raised more than £30million for charity. His special day saw flypasts from the Royal Air Force and British Army, and he was sent more than 150,000 cards.
On July 17, he was personally knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle. He died on February 2, 2021, aged 100, testing positive for Covid.
However his story didn’t end there – far from it.
The Captain Tom Foundation was established in June 2020 to raise money for organisations supporting the elderly. His daughter, Hannah Ingram-Moore, was the CEO.
However it didn’t take long to come under scrutiny. Concerns were raised over the high costs related to the grants it gave out, as well as Hannah’s building of a spa at her home in the foundation’s name.
In 2022, the Charity Commission began investigating and by October 2023, a family spokesperson said the foundation was “unlikely to exist” for much longer.
Hannah was ordered to demolish the spa, which was originally planned to be in the “Captain Tom Foundation Building”. In July 2023, the foundation stopped taking donations.
Then in July last year, the Charity Commission confirmed Hannah had been disqualified from being charity trustees, and the foundation was renamed to The 1189808 Foundation in January 2025.
Matt Hancock
Similar to Dominic Cummings, disgraced politician Matt Hancock seemingly couldn’t follow the rules his own government set up.
At the start of 2020, Matt was Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. He was one of the most vocal critics of people breaking social distancing rules, branding people “very selfish”.
He was first met with scandal in April 2020, when it was revealed his 100,000 daily target of Covid tests wasn’t quite as it seemed. It included up to 40,000 which were at-home tests, which had not yet been completed.
Later, Matt threatened to ban all outdoor exercise as a way to try and make people follow lockdown rules.
By October of the same year, he was forced to deny he had broken the 10pm drinking curfew in the Smoking Room bar at the House of Commons. Then days later, the Mirror published a photo of him being driven without wearing a mask.
Of course, none of that is what people really remember him for.
During the pandemic, it was revealed that he was having an affair with DHSC adviser Gina Coladangelo. He had been caught on CCTV kissing her in his Whitehall office, with stills released by The Sun, meaning he had broken the social distancing restrictions as she was not part of his household.
On June 25, 2021 he admitted he had broken the rules and apologised for “letting people down”. Boris Johnson accepted the apology and “closed” the matter.
But a day later, Matt resigned.
In a weird turn of events, Matt then launched himself as a celebrity politician. He joined the cast of I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in 2022, much to the fury of viewers.
He claimed it was to raise the profile of a dyslexia campaign he was working on. But he also pocketed one of the largest ever fees for appearing on the show, at £400,000.
Despite the majority of viewers being sickened by his stint on the show, he finished in third place. He also appeared on Celebrity SAS.
Joe Exotic
Joe Exotic was the star (rightly or not) of Netflix smash hit Tiger King. Countless people raced through the series while stuck at home during lockdown.
But he became an overnight sensation due to his hatred for fellow big cat owner Carole Baskin. He had previously appeared on a few shows, including 2011 Louis Theroux documentary America’s Most Dangerous Pets.
Tiger King focused on his rivalry with Carole, and his eventual imprisonment. He was arrested on charged of attempting to hire two hitmen to kill her.
In January 2020, before Tiger King’s release, he was sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Five years on and, no surprise, he is still behind bars. However he’s been trying his hardest to get released, even contacting Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian.
Recently, Joe married Mexican fellow inmate Jorge Marquez. He has since been trying to stop his husband’s deportation.
During his time in prison, Joe was also diagnosed with cancer. He predicted: “I’m not going to live to carry out this sentence,” adding: “I would love to go home.”
Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
