Jake Roche was blown to "smithereens" when his music career collapsed.
Jake Roche was devastated when his music career failed
The 31-year-old singer/actor shot to fame as the frontman of pop group Rixton - later known as Push Baby - after being signed by Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun but their promising career came to an abrupt end and Jake hit rock bottom.
Jake told The Times newspaper: "It’s your classic story of a teen pop star who gets it all and loses it all ... [I had] an existential crisis at the end of my twenties ... "
He explained the band's deal in America fell apart, he broke up with his pop star girlfriend Jesy Nelson and was taken in by Ed Sheeran before moving back in with his mum Coleen Nolan and applying for benefits.
Jake went on: "The saddest thing was I was clinging on, trying to convince my friends and family that I was just taking a break. But the truth is that my calendar was blocked out every single day from the age of 18 until 23, 24 - and then just nothing.
"I’d never experienced failure in my whole life. Every audition I would go to I would get. It blew me to smithereens ...
"I broke up with Jesy and moved into Ed Sheeran’s house ... I think he [Ed] just was just like, ‘I’m a bit worried about this dude.’ A lot of people go to a beach in Thailand and drop acid - I just happened to do it in Ed Sheeran’s back garden ... "
Jake - whose dad is actor Shane Richie - knows he is lucky to come from a family with enough resources to support him when he was struggled and feels some "guilt" about his privileged circumstances.
He added: "I’m hyper-aware that a lot of people who sign up for it [benefits] don’t have the safety nets that I have ... It’s only recently that I’ve started getting the guilt: ‘Oh s***, should I be here?' ... [I] was only able to get good [at singing and acting] because of the privilege".
Tagged in Ed Sheeran Jesy Nelson Jake Roche