It would be hard to imagine being in class one day as an adolescent only to turn on the TV later and seeing your seventh-grade science teacher clotheslining another woman on WWE Raw. Well, that happened to be the case for Michelle McCool who prior to becoming a pro-wrestler was a teacher in Palatka, Florida. It also doesn't hurt that she was actually a quality athlete that would consistently leave her opponents mangled on the ring floor. Not to mention, Michelle McCool has one of the most complex finishing moves on this list in her patented Faithbreaker.
After ditching her teaching gig in her hometown, Michelle took her talents to the 2004 WWE Diva Search, despite losing to Christy Hemme, she signed a three-year deal with the world's largest pro-wrestling platform. After training in the WWE's developmental territories for two years, McCool made her main roster debut in 2006 and didn't look back. Throughout her five-year stint with the WWE, McCool became the inaugural winner of the WWE Divas Championship and later won the WWE Women's Championship making her the first to hold both titles. At 2010's Night of Champions event, McCool united both belts making her the first and only WWE Unified Divas Champion to this day.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.