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When Christy Carlson Romano was still young, she managed to accomplish something that millions of people dream of throughout their lives, she became a famous actor. A former teen star, Romano became a big part of the family television ecosystem due to her starring roles in a pair of popular Disney Channel shows.
Despite Romano never became a movie star, there is still no doubt that she cashed in on the fame she enjoyed in a big way. In fact, it is clear that at the height of Romano's career, she was making millions of dollars. While some former child stars have become rich enough that they never have to work again, that sadly is a rarity. Instead, it is a lot more common for former child stars to go broke and maybe even get in legal trouble.
Even though there is no indication that Romano has been in legal jeopardy, she has admitted that she went broke. With that in mind, it begs an obvious question, has Romano made her millions back since she lost it all?
How Did Christy Carlson Romano Lose Her Fortune?
During the early to mid-2000s, there were very few teen stars who were more successful than Christy Carlson Romano. Hired to star in two different Disney Channel shows at one time, both of Romano's series were embraced by an entire generation of kids.
From the year 2000 until 2003, Romano starred in Even Stevens with Shia LaBeouf, an actor she has admitted she didn't always get along with. On top of that, Romano starred in the beloved animated series Kim Possible from 2002 until 2007.
Due to those two high-profile roles and all the other parts she landed over the years, Romano says she made millions. As Romano explained in a video she posted on her own YouTube channel, however, her financial decisions resulted in the actor losing it all.
"This is how I blew all my Disney money. I started making money with Disney when I was 16. I will take you on a journey to my path of financial fluency and how I made and lost millions of dollars."
"I really regret not investing my money wisely — I didn't get a house. I didn't take any money and store it away…" she said. Romano said some of her earnings went towards college and student loan debt. That was smart — except that I left school about a year and a half in."
Unfortunately for Romano, she says that leaving school didn't stop her financial problems from growing.
"Then I had all this money at my disposal, I was never told how much money I was making, money didn't have a purpose for me. I didn't really know what it was; I just knew that I had it, and I didn't care about it — that's a problem."
Like a lot of people, Romano says she started to spend money to make herself feel better.
"I was using buying things and money as a weapon. I felt like if I could just buy certain things, I would feel better or if I just lived a certain lifestyle." As Romano explained, she started buying "big-ticket items" like Ralph Lauren clothes and a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon. The young actor also says a psychic got a lot of money out of her too.
On top of talking about her own financial history, Romano also talked about how she feels child stars like her are misled and set up to lose their money.
"My biggest thing about child actors, you aren't told that the work is going to slow down. In fact, I was told the opposite, specifically by my mom, some of my team, even my money manager at the time."
What Happened After Christy Carlson Romano Went Broke?
After discussing how she went broke in the aforementioned YouTube video, Christy Carlson Romano went on to talk about how that affected her decision-making. As Romano revealed, as a result of her need for money, Romano took a role that left her feeling "Marked and Horrible".
In 2010, a little-seen movie that Romano starred in which was titled Mirrors 2 was released and it featured a scene where she appeared while disrobed. As she explained in her YouTube video about her finances, Romano not only didn't want to star in Mirrors 2, it felt like a betrayal of how she saw herself at the time.
“I had never thought in a million years that I would ever do something like this. I was America’s sweetheart, morally sound in my mind. I believed in the Disney magic, I still do. And then I felt so exploited and marked and horrible.”
Learning that Romano felt forced into making Mirrors 2 truly is heartbreaking. Worse yet, it is obvious that Romano is far from the only former child star who has made that kind of decision and possibly felt the same way.
Right after Romano revealed how she felt about Mirrors 2, she assured fans that she no longer beats herself up about appearing in the movie.
“I promise you I’m OK. I have made peace with this. But there are some realities that come to play. The truth is that I did this movie for the money because I was desperate to feel that feeling that I had when I was making tons of money, and everything was OK.”
Also in the same video, Romano spoke about the situation she finds herself in now. According to Romano, she hasn't got her riches back as she isn't worth nearly as much as she once was. However, she still is in a good place.
“I am not a millionaire in any way, shape, or form; I’m just a mom monetizing my channel, doing sponsored content, having fun, working when I can.” Based on Romano's comments, it seems like celebritynetworth.com's estimate that she is worth $250,000 likely is pretty accurate.
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