Nicole Richie

Although not as famous as her ex-best friend and reality-TV cohort, Paris Hilton, Richie can take solace in the fact that she isn't perceived as being as idiotic, either. The adopted daughter of music legend Lionel Richie, this comely blonde rocketed to infamy when she signed on to The Simple Life in 2003, which placed the loaded lovelies in situations where they were actually required to work. While Hilton consistently embarrassed herself both on screen and off, Richie was a tad more subdued, despite a heroin bust, DUIs, an on-again off-again relationship with Adam 'DJ A.M.' Goldstein, and a staggering weight loss that initially turned her into a men's-magazine dream before anorexia kicked in. Like Hilton, Richie parlayed her success into a low-level entertainment career, with a handful of acting roles, a novel and a band. Even after the gals' famous fallout in 2005, they remained small-screen costars, although they made sure never to appear in the same scene. Although the pair publicly reconciled on Late Night with David Letterman in 2006, fans were never sure if perhaps it was just another in a long string of publicity stunts.