These guys were the heartthrobs of the '90s. Then they disappeared from the spotlight.

If you were a child in the '90s, chances are your bedroom featured at least one piece of blow-up furniture, a lava lamp and walls enshrined with posters from the latest edition of TV Hits magazine. 

Before the turn of the century, Hollywood was full of young stars acting in sitcoms, teen dramas and blockbuster movies. These floppy-haired fan favourites were making it big, and we were all lapping it all up. But despite the throngs of screaming fans and magazine covers galore, for some, the glitz and glamour wasn't all it was hyped up to be.

While you can still see some of your favourite '90s stars living large in Hollywood roost (ahem, Leonardo DiCaprio), there were plenty who traded in the high life in favour of a different pace. Here are seven who walked away from the limelight to follow a different path.

Rider Strong.

Rider Strong in 1999. Image: Getty.

The '90s sitcom Boy Meets World taught us a lot about growing up and falling in love for the first time. It also taught us that cute boys with good manners named Shawn are our kryptonite. The best friend character was played by Rider Strong and immediately won the hearts of girls around the world until the show ended in 2000.

Rider Strong in 2023. Image: Getty.

Shortly after, Strong put his acting career on the back burner and instead headed to Columbia University to study a degree in English literature. Since then, he has dipped his toes into a few different pools, including short-film making, activism, and even a podcast called Literary Disco dedicated to his love of books. Be still our beating hearts.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas.

Throughout his time playing Randy on Home Improvement, the chokehold Jonathan Taylor Thomas had on the entire female population was palpable. We're not sure if it was his smile, that perfect sun-kissed California skin, just the right amount of subtle blond highlights or his short-king confidence, but JTT had our hearts hook, line and sinker.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

The actor was on track to be the next big thing in Hollywood but he had other ideas about his future. JTT went on to study at various prestigious institutions, including Harvard, Columbia and St Andrews, to expand his mind. In 2013, he told PEOPLE he has no regrets about giving up his Hollywood career. "I never took the fame too seriously," he said. 

"It was a great period in my life, but it doesn't define me. When I think back on the time, I look at it with a wink."

James Van Der Beek.

James Van Der Beek was arguably on the 'boy-next-door' end of the heartthrob spectrum, but nonetheless he had a place in our hearts after hitting the big time playing Dawson Leary on the teen drama Dawson's Creek. The geeky, bumbling all-American guy looked like he was set for superstardom — but after years of bit parts in TV shows, things didn't quite pan out that way.

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A post shared by James Van Der Beek (@vanderjames)

Whilst he's hardly been a recluse from showbiz, from around 2020, Van Der Beek's iMDB CV starts to look a little lean. But if you've been wondering what he's been up to, look no further than his Instagram page where he has become something of a... dad influencer?! The 46-year-old is happily married to his wife, Kimberly Brook. They share six children and live what looks like a pretty blissful life on a property in Texas.

Andrew Shue.

Once upon a time, Andrew Shue was the neighbour with the chiselled jaw causing massive drama on Melrose Place. Despite being on one of the hottest shows in the '90s, he decided to retire from acting altogether, swapping scripts for the entrepreneurial world when he co-founded a company called CafeMedia with his best friend. 

That business venture helped to create a website called CafeMom, which is a platform that provides parenting advice. In 1993 he co-founded a non-profit called Do Something, which stills runs today.

Andrew Shue is now the co-founder of a non-profit. Image: IMdB/Getty.

He also wrote a children's book with his second wife, Amy Robach, titled Better Together. And if that name rings a bell it might be because it has been all through the headlines over the past year. Robach was famously embroiled in an affair with her TV co-host T.J. Holmes. In a real Melrose Place-esque twist, Shue is now dating Holmes' ex-wife, Marilee Fiebig. Sometimes art imitates life — or is it the other way around?

Nate Richert.

While the name Nate Richert might not necessarily stir anything deep inside of you, perhaps Harvey Kinkle will. The sweet and adoring boyfriend on Sabrina The Teenage Witch had a smile that warmed us up inside, and for the bookish girls amongst us, Harvey Kinkle was our dream man.

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A post shared by Nate Richert (@thenaterichert)

In 2006, after finishing up on Sabrina, Richert decided to retire from acting to pursue other endeavours — and in 2018, he shared an Instagram post to share all the different ways he makes money these days.

"I’m currently a maintenance man, a janitor, a carpenter, and do whatever random jobs I can get to pay the bills," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). "I do improv and songwrite to maintain my sanity."

Zachery Ty Bryan.

Another young actor who came up through the Home Improvement ranks was Zachery Ty Bryan. While he didn't garner as much attention as his co-star Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Bryan was able to ride the wave. Playing the gruff older brother, Brad Taylor, instantly gave him heartthrob cred and he was able to parlay that into a number of other TV roles in the years after Home Improvement ended.

Zachery Ty Bryan in 1997. Image: Getty.

Unfortunately, in recent years, the now-42-year-old's career has been overshadowed by his troubled personal life. He has had a string of run-ins with the law, including some pretty serious allegations of assault against partners. 

In 2023 he pleaded guilty to felony assault and was sentenced to seven days in jail, supervised probation and had to undertake treatment for alcohol and substance abuse issues.

David Charvet.

David Charvet on Baywatch. Image: NBC.

Buff, tanned and a pearly white smile — what more could you ask for in a '90s heartthrob? At the height of his time on hit lifeguard TV series Baywatch, David Charvet had it all. When Baywatch ended the French-born star signed a deal with Universal in his home country and went on to pursue a successful career as a singer in Europe.

David Charvet in 2019. Image: Getty.

After marrying his now-ex-wife Brooke Burke and having two children, Charvet took a step back to assess what was really important to him in life. Ultimately he decided a life in the spotlight would not help him be the best dad possible to his daughter, Heaven, and son, Shaya. He now has made a pivot into the world of property developing and runs the business The Jones Builders Group.

Feature Image: Getty.