I start this article from a position of profound ignorance, something which will come as as no surprise to my loyal reader. I now know that a new TV series of Celebrity Big Brother has started on Channel Five and I decided that it was my duty to comment on the stellar list of superstars selected for the show. And what a list it is.
The new series – series 17, believe it or not (I believe it) – features two groups of celebrities. All Stars who have been on the show before and New Stars who haven’t. So let’s see who is there, without Googling any of the names first:
ALL STARS
Austin Armacost. I have no idea who this is.
Calum Best. This is George Best’s son, which makes him a celebrity.
James Jordan. Don’t know who this is.
Nicola McLean. Not a clue.
Coleen Nolan. One of the Nolan Sisters?
Heidi & Spencer Pratt. Who?
Jasmine Waltz. Nope.
NEW STARS
Angie Best. This must be George Best’s wife and Calum’s mum?
Brandon Block. Brandon Who?
James Cosmo. Not a name that rings any bells?
Bianca Gascoigne. A relation of Gazza?
Jamie O’Hara. I know one. He is/was a footballer.
Ray J. Can’t say I recognise the name.
Stacy Francis. Not familiar.
According to my dictionary, a celebrity is a “famous or well-known person” and on that basis, you could make a case for suggesting that these “celebrities’ are well-known, at least in their families. I am not convinced that many of them are all that famous though. However, I could be wrong.
Perhaps they are all “famous or well-known” and I am the one who is out-of-touch with modern celebrity culture. I am not an aficionado of the tabloids, I don’t purchase any of the celeb mags that sell so well and, judging from the “names” chosen for this year’s CBB, I don’t watch the right TV shows. For all I know, Jasmine Waltz is a household name in every home in the land, except mine, and conversation in the pubs and clubs rarely moves away from whatever it is Ray J is getting up to at whatever it is he does.
What it really comes down to is this: I don’t have to watch it. If I am not interested in people I’ve never heard of doing things I’m not interested in, then I can watch something else.
I struggle greatly with the idea that the son or daughter of someone famous automatically becomes a celebrity but that, judging from the viewing figures, is not something that concerns the millions who will be watching every night. These days, it seems, anyone can be a star, so why not some celebrity who wasn’t really a celebrity in the first place? Good for them, I say.
