It’s difficult being a celebrity. Not that I have personal experience, but having everyone in the world knowing the ins and outs of your daily life must be tough.
But when you’re the one telling everyone about those ins and outs, sympathy is bound to wane.
Case in point – Jessie J, who got a bit snippy with Ben Shephard last week when he dared ask her about her boyfriend Channing Tatum.
The Price Tag singer was on This Morning ahead of The Voice Kids finale with her finalist, nine-year-old Keira, who joined later in the interview, but when Ben and co-host Jenni Falconer dared to bring up Channing, things got hella frosty.
As Ben segued away from performances on The Voice Kids, he referenced Tatum’s film Magic Mike, saying: ‘That’s a performance that seems to be…’ – to which Jessie said: ‘The opposite of The Voice Kids, let’s stay focused on The Voice Kids.’
The star then looked fairly dismissive as the hosts continued to discuss how great Magic Mike Live is.
Now, I entirely understand that Jessie’s task of the day was to discuss The Voice Kids. But the hosts weren’t ignoring that – the vast majority of the segment was dedicated to the show. And Jessie can’t expect people to gloss over her personal life when she so freely boasts about it when it suits her.
Jessie has been dating Hollywood star Channing since October 2018, and while they didn’t comment on their romance for a few months, things have drastically changed.
There was Channing posting a naked picture on Instagram, saying he lost a bet to his girlfriend. There was Jessie saying her man looks ‘great naked in the shower’. There were the shared pictures from a date night dinner. Oh, and a trip to see Magic Mike Live. There was Jessie saying she would tell her teenage self: ‘Cut down on the blusher, babes! And take a breath. You’re going to get with Channing Tatum in 10 years, so keep going!’
This is all in the past three months, and while I entirely agree that celebrities should be able to keep certain things private, you can’t pick and choose when that privacy comes if you happily promote your relationship to 8.3million followers when you don’t have a TV show to big up.
Celebrities know their romantic lives will be of interest to fans, particularly if they met through showbiz circles. Take Lili Reinhart and Cole Sprouse, for example.
The stars of Riverdale, were reported to have broken up, and only broke their silence on the matter to debut an interview they had done separately that revealed that yes, they had split.
The actors have walked a few red carpets together, including the Met Gala, and have mentioned each other in a few gushy Instagram posts. But in all prior interviews, they have stated how they want to keep their relationship private, never divulging too much while understanding that Riverdale fans are interested in their romance on and off screen.
Because of this fans – and interviewers – know what to expect.
On the flipside of that, Jessie has brought up Channing willingly on previous occasions, and has happily shared private moments with him to social media. So why shouldn’t interviewers think it appropriate to ask her about it when she’s promoting something else?
The same attitude is seen across the showbiz atmosphere, particularly when it comes to stars who are essentially the Goldilocks of publicity – not too little, not too much, just right. Katie Price last week complained that ‘the media’ has been judging her music career. But she’s not as offended by the media using picture sets which she has admitted to staging.
Speaking on Women’s Hour last year about her topless pictures with now-fiancé Kris Boyson in Thailand, Katie said: ‘You would know, I never set up pictures, I’m not one for that because people got them. But it’s got to the point where you want to set them up so people don’t take them off you and write what they like.’
Celebrities are people too, and boundaries should always be respected. But if you use the spotlight to get what you want, you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.
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