Star image, celebrity reality television and the fame cycle

Abstract

In this paper, I discuss the phenomenon of celebrity reality television and explore its function for those participating in it. Drawing on the success of their non-celebrity counterparts, programmes such as Celebrity Big Brother, I'm a Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here and Dancing With the Stars have become popular globally and, although arguably no longer at their peak, continue to attract large audiences and significant amounts of publicity. In this paper I discuss the role these shows can serve for celebrities at different levels of their careers. I argue that reality television appeals in different ways to celebrities at different points in the fame 'cycle': 'ordinary' people or 'pre-celebrities' seeking to become known through it; proto-celebrities who wish to expand their fame; celebrities engaged in the work of promotion for their other endeavours; celebrities who wish to remake their existing star image through using reality television as a rehabilitative strategy or an opportunity to develop new skills; and those whose careers are in a period of 'post-celebrity' who seek to renew their fame. I explore how a successful reality show cast is one that combines celebrities who are at a range of points in the fame cycle as the interactions between the cast members and their debates about fame and hierarchy prove a key attraction for audiences.

The Experience and Meaning of Media to Non-Mainstream Athletes: Qualitative Study

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“…Such scrutiny over celebrities is often intrinsically linked to factors such as platform and genre. For example, even reality television has its own hierarchies, with certain formats seen as more prestigious than others (Bonner, 2013; Deller, 2016; Holmes, 2006).…”

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“…In addition, appearing on CdV entailed a second risk to Etxebarria’s status as a literary celebrity. Celebrity reality TV is usually connected to a loss of celebrity capital and other related capitals such as economic capital: ‘Celebrity reality TV is often peopled by faces who have experienced a decline in auratic status, names jostling for the chance to relaunch or reinvent their personae’ (Holmes, 2006: 47), as well as ‘proto-celebrities’ who are ‘on the fringes of fame who might be seeking to gain wider recognition and acceptance as fully-fledged celebrities’ (Deller, 2016: 377). Thus, participating in a celebrity reality TV programme can be perceived as a sign of not being a ‘proper celebrity’.…”

“…This was highlighted several times by CdV’ s hosts, who also directly asked each contestant if they knew who she was. In celebrity reality TV, ‘which celebrities are recognized by which other celebrities upon their entrance into a show reveals much about how different hierarchies of fame work’ (Deller, 2016: 385). Thus, by not being recognized by four of CdV’s contestants, Etxebarria’s celebrity capital was seemingly questioned, as was its mobility and convertibility from one field to another.…”

“…These attacks against Etxebarria were a form of ‘levelling through humiliation’ connected to a ‘desire for equality’ (Cross and Littler, 2010: 397). In other words, the programme symbolically ‘punished’ the writer for breaking the rules of celebrity reality TV: being ‘ordinary’ and denying social and cultural hierarchies (Biressi and Nunn, 2005; Deller, 2016; Holmes, 2004). Interestingly, contestants and commentators also repeatedly claimed that Etxebarria was now ‘one of them’, since they were all on the same programme: ‘If you are so smart, why are you here [ on the programme ]?’ (Gaby, CdV , 22 July), ‘They have all joined the programme for one reason or another, and here they are all equal’ (Mila Ximénez ( CdV commentator), CdV , 22 July).…”