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FROM RICHES TO RAGS

From Lady Gaga to 50 Cent, here’s eight celebs who faced financial troubles — and some may surprise you

Fame and money are often intertwined, but stars can easily go broke when they start getting frivolous spending their cash

KATIE Price and Mel B are apparently teetering on the brink of bankruptcy – but they’re not the only super-rich celebs who have faced financial problems.

Here, we look at some of the ones who went broke and a couple who came very close.

Toni Braxton, 50

 Toni Braxton went bankrupt for the first time in 1998 despite a massive music career as well as in 2010
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Toni Braxton went bankrupt for the first time in 1998 despite a massive music career as well as in 2010Credit: Getty

Was worth: £7.5million

How she blew it: The Grammy winner has been declared bankrupt not once, but twice.

The first time was in 1998, in part thanks to her extravagant spending habit (“I kind of lost it a little bit on houseware…”).

In 2010 she filed again, owing up to £31.5million after a heart condition forced her to cancel a series of shows in Las Vegas.

Boom or bust? Toni was able to breathe again after she settled her second bankruptcy case in 2013. And this year she released her ninth studio album, Sex & Cigarettes, which will hopefully help un-break the bank.

Toni Braxton presents Eminem with Best Rap Album at the 2001 Grammys in very revealing dress

Kim Basinger, 64

 Kim Basinger was forced to file for bankruptcy after being sued by a production company in 1993
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Kim Basinger was forced to file for bankruptcy after being sued by a production company in 1993Credit: Getty

Was worth: £4.1million

How she blew it: The actress filed for bankruptcy in 1993 after being sued by production company Main Line Pictures.

Kim had pulled out of the film Boxing Helena, and the company wanted £6.2million for breach of contract.

Boom or bust? Kim and the studio eventually settled for £2.3million. Two years later, she struck gold in LA Confidential, winning a Golden Globe.

Films such as 8 Mile, The Nice Guys and most recently Fifty Shades Darker followed, and now she’s worth almost £30million. Kim-credible!

9½ Weeks trailer

50 Cent, 43

 50 Cent's over-indulgent lifestyle and being sued for leaking a sex tape forced the rapper to file for bankruptcy in 2015
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50 Cent's over-indulgent lifestyle and being sued for leaking a sex tape forced the rapper to file for bankruptcy in 2015Credit: Getty

Was worth: Up to £120million

How he blew it: The rapper filed for bankruptcy in 2015 with a debt of £28million after a woman sued him for £4million for leaking a sex tape online.

He had also splurged on flashy cars, bling (obv) and luxe mansions, including a property worth £6.4million with 37 bathrooms. Talk about flushing your money down the toilet.

Boom or bust? Fiddy erased his debts in two years with money that included proceeds from suing his lawyers over a previous court case. Keep up!

Official video for the hit track In Da Club by 50 Cent

Lady Gaga, 32

 Lady Gaga spent her entire money on her Monster Ball tour - but luckily it was a huge success with a massive turnover
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Lady Gaga spent her entire money on her Monster Ball tour - but luckily it was a huge success with a massive turnoverCredit: Getty

Was worth: £2.3million

How she blew it: The singer spent her entire fortune on her Monster Ball tour in 2009, unwittingly leaving herself £1.8million in debt.

She revealed: “I put everything in the show, and I actually went bankrupt after the first extension…. And it was funny because I didn’t know!” Er, hilarious.

Boom or bust? Thankfully, fans went gaga for Gaga, and the tour eventually raked in a total of £138million.

She later said: “It’s honestly true that money means nothing to me.”

She’s now worth an estimated £200million.

Lady Gaga performs Joanne in memory of her late Aunt at the 60th Grammy awards in New York

MC Hammer, 56

 MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after spending money frivolously after one successful album
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MC Hammer filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after spending money frivolously after one successful albumCredit: Rex Features

Was worth: £25million

How he blew it: Stanley Burrell (we know!) hit the jackpot with his album Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ‘Em in 1990, but not enough to fund his lavish lifestyle – the star owned 17 cars, employed 200 staff and lived in a mansion with a pool shaped like his trademark puffy pants.

But in 1996 he filed for bankruptcy with £7.6million of debt.

Boom or bust? The star sold his pad for £3.8million, but he’s still paying back his dues. In 2015 he released new music, but it’s safe to say it couldn’t touch the success of his heyday hits.

MC Hammer - Pray

Mel B, 43

 Mel B's bitter divorce to Stephen Belafonte and a defamation case from her former nanny has caused hefty debts for the Spice Girl
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Mel B's bitter divorce to Stephen Belafonte and a defamation case from her former nanny has caused hefty debts for the Spice GirlCredit: Getty

Was worth: £38million

How she blew it: Two words - Stephen Belafonte. Over the course of their 10-year marriage, Mel splashed the cash on her second hubby, even buying him a £1million island as a birthday gift. And then there was the cost of divorcing him – she was recently ordered to pay her ex’s £270,000 legal fees on top of the tens of thousands she’s spent on her own.

Meanwhile, a defamation case brought by her former nanny could see her lose another £1.6million.

The ex-Spice Girl has also dropped hefty amounts on diamonds (one ring alone is worth £425,000) and handbags – her collection is rumoured to be worth half a mil.

Boom or bust? Mel will earn a £1million cheque for her upcoming stint on America’s Got Talent: The Champions – though she and her ex owe £500,000 in US tax, so the IRS will be claiming a chunk of that cash. Scary indeed.

Mel B excitedly celebrated her divorce being finalised to Stephen Belafonte despite being ordered to pay £270k legal fees

Katie Price, 40

 Katie Price's string of divorces and extravagant lifestyle has caused her fortune to quickly dwindle
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Katie Price's string of divorces and extravagant lifestyle has caused her fortune to quickly dwindleCredit: Goff

Was worth: £45million

How she blew it: Ex-husbands don’t come cheap – Alex Reid settled for a reported £1million payout – and now Katie’s divorcing her third husband, former stripper Kieran Hayler, 31, who wants a share of her dwindling fortune.

The mum of five’s £2million house is in disrepair and she’s apparently struggling to cover the mortgage repayments.

Once reported to have made £20million from her books, she’s now been given three months by the High Court to come up with a debt repayment plan.

Boom or bust? Pricey recently resorted to selling choreographed X-rated photos of her and new boyfriend Kris Boyson, 29, on holiday in Thailand for several thousand pounds.

She’s also said to be selling the £100,000 car she bought Kieran for his birthday last year – and may have to do the same with her menagerie of llamas, pigs, goats, sheep and ponies.

Katie Price and Kieran Hayler decide to split up and end marriage live on camera

Shane Filan, 39

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Was worth: £7.5million

How he blew it: After shifting 50 million albums and selling out arenas around the world, the former Westlife singer ploughed his earnings into the Irish property market (as well as a helicopter, a Ferrari, a Porsche and an Aston Martin).

Then the market collapsed around his ears. In 2012, a month after the Irish-based property company he shared with his brother went into receivership, he filed for bankruptcy in the UK, where the penalties last for 12 months.

In his 2014 autobiography, he described that time as the “bottom of the barrel”.

Boom or bust? Shane sold his family home in Sligo – worth £8.9million during the boom – for just £712,000.

With Westlife disbanded, he released three reasonably successful solo albums.

But last month, his wife Gillian, 39, was declared bankrupt relating to mortgage debts in both their names, believed to be around £3.5million.

Louis Walsh might say no to X Factor, says Westlife's Shane Filan
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