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For eleven seasons during the '90s and 2000s, 7th Heaven was widely recognized as one of the most family-friendly television shows. Focused on Reverend Eric Camden, stay-at-home mother Annie Camden, and their children, 7th Heaven saw the couple dealing with the drama of bringing up seven kids from a biblical point of view.
No matter how comforting fans found it to watch the Camden family, the actors who brought the characters to life were having their own experiences. In fact, before 7th Heaven came to an end, it became clear that series star Jessica Biel felt stifled during her tenure starring in the show.
While Biel was open about how she felt about 7th Heaven at the time, the show's other stars took years to open up about what it was like behind the scenes. Fortunately for everyone involved, however, unlike a lot of other shows where bad things go on behind the camera, it seems like most of 7th Heaven's stars enjoyed making the show.
Sadly, even though most of the stories about 7th Heaven's set seem pretty nice, the show's legacy has still forever been tarnished. The reason for that is simple, series star Stephen Collins did things that tainted the perception of 7th Heaven, ruined his own career, and lost him loads of money.
How Rich Was Stephen Collins At The Height Of His Career?
Before he was hired to star in 7th Heaven, Stephen Collins had already built up a solid reputation in the entertainment industry. The kind of actor who could hold his own in virtually any show or movie, Collins seemed poised to work consistently until he chose to retire.
Of course, the vast majority of actors would give just about anything to land the starring role in a TV show. However, Collins' career was going so strong before he was cast in 7th Heaven that he worried about being typecast if he became closely associated with the role.
Still, Collins obviously agreed to star in 7th Heaven and he went on to headline eleven seasons of the show. As it turns out, it seems like starring in 7th Heaven didn't limit Collins' career that much at the time since he worked consistently in the years that followed the show's ending.
Between 2008 and 2014, Collins appeared in episodes of shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Private Practice, The Office, Scandal, and The Fosters. Additionally, Collins starred in a short-lived series called No Ordinary Family.
Thanks to all the success that Collins enjoyed up until 2014, he amassed a truly impressive fortune. According to celebritynetworth.com, at the height of Collins' financial success, he was worth $14 million which is a hefty amount for anyone.
What Happened To Stephen Collins' Fortune Following His Controversy?
After years of building up a positive reputation in the acting business, all of that came crashing down for Stephen Collins in 2014. By the time 2014 came to an end, Collins had taken a step back from Hollywood that would turn out to be permanent to date.
In 2014, according to ABCNews, the public learned for the first time that Collins was being investigated for allegedly doing some really controversial and awful things with underaged individuals years earlier. In most cases when there are headlines about a celebrity potentially doing something wrong, the stars in question come out to deny it.
On the other hand, when the news broke about Collins' misdeeds, he not only didn't deny it, he did an interview where he admitted he'd done the things he was being investigated for.
Before anyone gives Collins too much credit for coming clean about the situation, he didn't really have much of a choice. After all, Collins' now ex-wife secretly recorded Stephen admitting what he'd done during a therapy session, so it would have been virtually impossible for him to claim innocence.
Since Collins' infamous interview, he has basically disappeared from the public eye. However, there have been a few reports about what Collins is up to now.
After moving to a small town in Iowa, Collins married a “super fan” named Jenny Nagel who is roughly four decades younger than him.
Since Collins no longer is getting Hollywood paydays like he used to, it likely won't surprise anyone that his net worth has taken a major hit. However, even with that in mind, some people may be surprised to learn Collins went from being worth $14 million to currently having a $3 million fortune according to celebritynetworth.com.
While some fans may be surprised by how much money Collins has lost, it makes a lot of sense when you look at the big picture. After all, Collins would have still had expenses like child support, spousal support, and any debts he accumulated during his career up until that point.
How Stephen Collins Took Money From His 7th Heaven Co-Stars
When the news broke about what Stephen Collins had done in the past, the media understandably mostly focused on covering the details of his misdeeds. However, in October 2014, Us Weekly published an article about the Collins story from an angle few people had likely considered up until then.
As the article pointed out, up until the news of what Collins had done broke, 7th Heaven was airing in reruns on two different networks. Once the show became associated with Collins's past conduct, however, both networks quickly pulled it from their schedule.
Since 7th Heaven was completely pulled off the air at that time, every member of the show's cast stopped getting residual payments.
The following year in 2015, some networks started airing 7th Heaven in reruns again. However, the show's stars had already missed out on money by then.
On top of that, it seems extremely likely that more reruns of 7th Heaven would have aired over the years if it wasn't for Collins. It also is easy to imagine Funko putting out a 7th Heaven figure line at one point if the show hadn't become so controversial.
