Never 'eard of 'em.


At least when Celebs Go Dating starts on E4 tonight, everyone involved will have a TV credit.

...anyone?
I keep seeing the series trailed on Channel 4 in the mornings and I can honestly say I don’t recognise a single person on it; not even slightly. I know fame is subjective, but by the law of averages you’d think I'd be familiar with at least one of the eight people taking part; the definition of celebrity is being stretched so far by the programme's producers, I almost expect to see myself among the line-up.

This is what’s wrong with the world today, at least as far as popular culture is concerned (and I’m well aware this makes me sound like someone’s grandparent). There once was a time when we’d celebrate talented people for making some kind of achievement, but not any more; now, all you need to be in the public eye is a vapid face and a questionable haircut.

These days, you can be branded a celebrity just for appearing on a reality show, which is pure meta. It’s like when you used to need an Equity card to be a performer, but weren't eligible for one until you'd actually been in something. On that basis, I needn't have bothered with going to drama school, writing my own shows or learning an instrument, when I could have signed up for a trash programme where all I need do is look pretty for the camera; ah, now that's why I took the former option.

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