He was one of Australia’s biggest ‘90s TV icons as Dougie the Pizza Boy, but Diarmid Heidenreich now spends his days installing elevators to keep a roof over his family’s head.
The former commercial star, who played the character from 1993 to 1996, has spent nearly 30 years working as a mechanical fitter, trading showbiz for hard manual labour.
While Heidenreich earned good money from Pizza Hut commercials, acting quickly became a side gig.
“As soon as I finished school my parents both made it very clear that if I was going to live under their roof I was going to work in a real-world job,” he told The Daily Mail Australia.
“Going to work on elevators and building something for a living made sense. I did it from the get-go and I still do it now.”
MORE: Rick Moranis’ shock new life now at 73
‘S**t’: Broke American Pie star’s shock fortune
Vanished *NSYNC star’s shock life at 49
![Pizza Hut Restaurant TV commercial - actor Diarmid Heidenreich ( Dougie).. / Food / Pizzas / Restaurants cafes f/l apr 1996](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 800 450"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Diarmid Heidenreich as Dougie the Pizza Boy.
Diarmid Heidenreich now spends his days installing elevators. Picture: Instagram/diarmidh
Alongside his full-time trade repairing lifts and escalators, Heidenreich continued to land acting roles in Water Rats, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, and Home and Away.
He also reprised his famous role as an older version of Dougie for major Pizza Hut nostalgia campaigns.
Residing in the eastern suburbs of Sydney with his journalist wife Genevieve Quigley and their two children, Ivory and Jasper, the actor said working a regular trade keeps his family grounded. He was last reported to have a home in Coogee.
“My family needs me to work to pay the mortgage,” Heidenreich said.
“That’s what they need and that’s what I do. The rest of it either happens or it doesn’t. I don’t chase it.”
Diarmid Heidenreich and Genevieve Quigley with their two children Jasper and Ivory in 2013.
Heidenreich as Detective Eddie Parrot Gould from Underbelly: The Golden Mile.
Like many stars thrust into early fame, Heidenreich faced significant personal struggles during his youth.
In 1996, he served 77 weekends of periodic detention following a drug and alcohol-fuelled car crash that left his girlfriend in hospital, according to the Herald Sun.
Heidenreich has been open about the incident, calling it the biggest mistake of his life and using it as a lesson for his children.
“I made a lot of stupid mistakes when I was young,” he admitted.
“That was probably the stupidest mistake I ever made … I regret it every day.
“The idea of getting punished is that people move on from it. But that’s not the way that it works. It sticks with you forever.
“The one thing I can do with it now is teach my kids to not make those same mistakes.”
MORE: Vanished star quits LA for wild drug life at 72