'Celebrities – ditch the Photoshop, forget the six-packs, and get the belly out'

Flab can be fab, embrace it!

Listen, before the lockdown I was a chubster. Millions saw my several chins on The Apprentice, especially during the infamous rollercoaster scene when my head was pressed against my neck forced by the winds of Thorpe Park, and you could probably see about six or 10 extra chins – might need to watch it again for an accurate number.

Even more recently, when I starred in BBC Three’s Celebrity Eating with My Ex, I was certainly a bit larger than I am now, lighter than my time on BBC One, but more flab needed to be shed.

Seeing myself on TV made me want to lose weight, and I was on a mission to drop the pounds to look and feel better. For me, and no one else.

But it seems others are taking the reverse action, including Love Island’s Chris Hughes, recently announcing he’s happier without abs after gaining weight during the pandemic, and I’m backing him all the way.

We all fawn over the chiseled studs of Love Island, their defined abs and muscular frames are dreamy. Of course they are!

But as much as diversity of race, gender, and sexuality needs to be seen on telly, I think weight diversity needs to be addressed where little and large need a share of the spotlight too.

Wouldn’t it be great to see the Love Island 2021 cast full of athletic dreamboats, but also some plus size singletons looking for love?

The producers seem to have disqualified anyone with a bit of extra flab in the past, and what message does that send to their predominately younger audience who are immensely concerned with their appearances, particularly surrounding weight?

Well, it’s a message that we ought to change.

I was simply horrified by the reaction towards Khloe Kardashian’s unedited photo that managed to leak online, naturally the trolls broke loose and dumped their thought garbage – no surprise there.

I was mainly shocked by Khloe and her team’s reception to the image, issuing various legal notices, DCMA takedowns on Twitter – it was a sad moment to witness.

Why would Khloe be so ashamed of her body, to the extent managers, agents, publicists, and lawyers had to step in to try and eradicate the snap from the face of the earth.

It was beyond ridiculous.

The fact is, Khloe looked marvellous. Curvaceous, toned, glowing, healthy, and why isn’t that celebrated?

Her dramatic reaction to the leak exemplified the pointless embarrassment she felt about an image being in the public domain without the usual Photoshop editing.

Now, what kind of impression does that set for young men and women, perhaps one of her 138million Instagram followers, who feel like they can share pictures of their body without airbrushing and skinny filters.

Be a role model!

A better response would’ve been a statement embracing the photograph along the lines of: “Yeah. That’s me. I might not be perfect, but that’s a natural body. My sisters may edit their photos, but I’m 100% real.”

What a great example that would be set for the millions who follow her.

Unfortunately, she took the opposite stance and I’m thoroughly disappointed in her and the Kardashian team.

What infuriates me further are other reality stars coming to Khloe’s defence, the likes of the Vogue Williams who said “it’s nobody else’s business and nobody should care either”.

Hang on, Vogue. Khloe has made millions of dollars sharing her life with viewers across the world, needless to say, anyone with 138million followers is under a microscope.

Absolutely, people will care, but it’s Khloe’s duty to be more honest with the people who follow and support her; instead of asking lawyers to remove images posted by fans even rejoicing and praising her body in the way it should be.

Last year, Dr Luke Evans MP proposed a new law which would force advertisers and publishers to display a logo that would alert users a photo has been edited.

It’s concerning, with a quick swipe you can make yourself look 10-stone lighter and that’s a harmful power celebrities often neglect and inadvertently influence their younger followers to copy.

Multiple celebrities have spoken-out about the pressures of looking good, for instance Made In Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews admitted to using steroids to “bulk up” and The Only Way Is Essex’s Lauren Goodger has said posting pictures online gives her anxiety.

Goes to show everyone faces the pressure to look good and compete in an online world that’s full of fakery.

After the tragic passing of reality icon Nikki Grahame, who suffered from anorexia, this kind of “Photoshop mentality” is wrecking the lives of young people in battling with photos from their friends and celebrities that can’t be achieved through natural means.

It encourages eating disorders where desperate teens are starving their bodies to achieve what they see as “perfection” being portrayed by their favourite skinny celebs.

There are 1.25million people across the UK thought to be dealing with anorexia or bulimia and this editing c**p doesn’t help whatsoever.

It’s disgusting in my eyes and not enough is being done to put a stop to it, especially global public figures like Khloe Kardashian who could do so much more, but are proactively choosing to push legal notices instead of hope for the younger generation who need it now more than ever.

So when celebs like Chris Hughes tell the nation they’re embracing their bellies and ditching the abs, we should stand behind and honour their integrity, which seems to be lacking amongst the celebrity and influencer community currently.

I say, less Love Island and more love handles.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk