“What Happened To The Good-Looking Ultra-Popular Kids That Had It All In High School?” (45 Answers)

After graduation, no one in the real world gave a c**p about who they were or what they did in high school. No one. Also, having attended a couple class reunions now, I’ve observed that most of the popular guys are now overweight and balding. The popular girls are no longer thin, and seem to have older-looking faces than the “nerd” girls. Back in high school, I never would have believed this would happen to them, but it has.

The good looking ultra-popular kids in my high school went to good schools, got good jobs, and became really successful adults. One became a doctor, one became a union president, one became a toy exec and married an exec on a streaming platform, one was a professional football player for a few years. 30 years on, they're still good looking and charismatic.

Not high school, but a kid I was in grade school with became a famous actor with a beloved TV role. He was a really nice kid on top of being absurdly good looking and very popular. We went to different high schools but I ran into him occasionally and he very much fit the thread.

Edit: I never said any of these kids were rich. I'm not sure where you guys got that idea but it's coming up enough I wanted to address it here. A long time ago there was a hill in my hometown where all the rich people lived. They seceded from the city and made their own city so their taxes wouldn't be used to help the poors. Rich kids didn't go to my high school.

3 of them became chiropractors in my area. Nothing against the dudes, but I laugh hard every time I see an online advertisement from one of them thats local. His business name references alchemy which just is wicked amusing given the snake-oil reputation chiropractors have.

The only one I knew well ( I was in the Art/Theater/Music crowd) was class president and a basketball star in high school, went to state college, married young, became a pilot.  Very nice human. 

I ran into him in a bar about 15 years later. He was in his second marriage and seemed to be doing OK.  

He told me high school was the best time of his life, which made me sad for him. .

In my high school the popular kids were the ones who participated in theater and music and such, because it was just that kind of place. As such, the good-looking ultra popular kids at my high school grew up to be popular good-looking music, film and television stars. A couple are very well known names in film, one is a popular stand up comic and is on a popular TV show. Another is an incredibly popular DJ in Southeast Asia. A couple went on to be renowned orchestral performers. One of my best friends growing up has been a big name in local live theater for decades. So that kind of thing.

They are a bartender at a small town bar in the middle of nowhere that still let's you smoke cigarettes inside. I was very surprised when she asked if I wanted an ashtray with my drink.

Became a stock broker, developed d**g and p**n addiction, got low, got clean, married a mormon woman. Got her addicted to crack. Continued to smoke crack with his mormon wife, get her pregnant, get arrested for fraud and sent to prison last I checked.

A few became touring musicians. One became a commercial and b movie actor. One got fifth in the Olympics. One played minor league baseball, but d***s caught up to him. One woman became a p**nstar and died of an overdose. A few of the best athletes I played with committed s*****e because they weren't good enough to go pro.

The popular quarterback at my school, had 3 divorces, 2 kids and works in a low end construction job.

They’re lording it up in that same small town. Their last names got them everything in nowheresville, they couldn’t hack it in a real town or city.

One looks exactly the same and is a teacher married to a doctor. They have a huge house in the city and four kids. She was just a pretty, smart, socially capable but not aggressively popular girl with professional parents and became a similarly respectable adult. I’d like to feel bitter about it but I can’t— if I were a successful doctor who could have his pick of women, I’d marry her, too.

One became a teacher at our high school. He was funny and class president and everyone legitimately liked him. I guess it’s kind of strange he found his place where he was successful as a kid and just stayed there but I think his genuine love for the place probably adds to his appeal to the kids.

I graduated high school in 2019. The most popular girl in my high school won miss teen *our state* (her first beauty pageant) and now is a supporting character in a few box office horror movies. She was always the kindest person. Always had guys fawning over her. But worked at Dairy Queen all through high school and came from a poor family.


The most popular guy committed s*****e. Then his father pasted in a hurricane. And then his mother passed from cancer. Last I heard, his sister is in school to be a therapist and has a service animal for her panic attacks.

One went off the deep end and never was able to come to terms with the fact that he was gay. Lots of d***s, last I heard of him.

One still looks pretty good for her age but is a bit of a Facebook attention queen. Married the bowl cut dude who thought he was hot s**t.

One’s got a s**t ton of kids and does well for herself. Married the stoner football jock.

The other one was a POS and heroin laced with fentanyl got him. Good riddance.

He became a stock broker. Married a pretty woman, they had good looking kids. He's still married, posts pictures of his grandbabies on Facebook. Still a good guy.

The dude was amazing. Tall, good-looking and talented. Everyone thought he'd be in movies, a band, or both. He wasn't stuck up, and everyone liked him.


Had a psychological break due to undiagnosed issues, got into h****n and became homeless.

I lived in a town known for it's oil refineries and chemical plants. Most of the popular kids I knew got hooked up right out of high school with good jobs at the plants and are now in high-level management positions making high six figures. Some of them went to college and are entrepreneurs for various things, like one dude has his own fitness supplements and another guy has a marketing consultancy.

Nearly all of the popular girls left Houston and went to college in Dallas. I don't know what they went for. They are now all in real estate or are housewives, and the majority of them married much older men. Several of them have been "grandmas" since they were around 30.

Ran into him years after school, he got fat and lost much of his hair.

MLMs. So many MLMs.

Miss HS married a banker who went to federal prison for fraud. Mr. HS had been married and divorced by our 10th reunion.

The guys became lawyers with daddy’s firm and are all rich now. The women mostly married rich lawyers. They seem to have done quite well overall.