I watched a really interesting documentary last weekend. It was about Kirsty O’Brien who was a presenter on smArt. Here on the right… Quintessentially classic, less-than-beautiful, should-be-but-isn’t “girl next door” type (and that definition has been distorted these days, now your average G-N-D has a boob jobs and collagen lips, Kirsty is none of this).

She was contemplating furthering her career because others like Fearne Cotton (and others, Myleene Klass, Angelina Bell), who are of her generation, were getting more tv jobs that she was. Kirsty put it down to the fact that female presenters who did raunchy photos shoots for men’s magazines boosted their career profiles, and so booked more presenting jobs. Kirsty was/is a a kids tv presenter, and she was saying that she wants more adult, primetime shows. Fearne Cotton, for example, did shoots like this:

… And there are more provocative ones. Taking Myleene “Klass” as an example below:

And stuff like this shed Fearne’s kids-tv image (and I’ll put my hand up and say I watched Fearne every Saturday morning on Diggit when between the ages of 7 to 10) and it shed Myleene’s PG popstar thing too. Since then, Myleene’s got her own baby clothes line: Baby K in Mothercare. I’m not maturnal, but if I wanted a baby, I wouldn’t dress it in Baby K clothes knowing its designer does pictures like this. Not really a Mothercare image is it. And certainly not one I would want to associate with a child’s clothing under the age of 4. Disgusting how sex permeates every aspect of society. Now it can be associated with your kids clothing.

On the other hand, Kirsty spent the whole 1 hour documentary asking herself if getting her clothes off for a magazine would boost her career and if she should do it for just that one reason. She was really honest, saying that she wasn’t the hottest female out there and she wasn’t naturally sexy. It was refreshing to watch a show where a woman whose in TV could admit that, and genuinely believe it.  Anyways, by the end of the documentary she admitted that she didn’t want to pursue a photoshoot to boost her career and would focus on keeping her clothes on while trying a career in stand up comedy.

So its proven, there is a strand of dignity left in the word “celebrity”, on the A, B and C list. There is ONE woman out there , on TV, who is just like the rest of us. You, me and every other A and B-cup out there. Ordinary, and unexceptional. Its not what’s on the inside that counts anymore. Judging by the mammeries of Klass and Cotton, everything that counts is all on the outside. Kirsty set an example by not doing a photoshoot, realising that yes, sex sells, but at what price.