Celebrity Reality Competitions – PR Yay or Nay?
Now that we’ve finally accepted it’s time to bid farewell to the glorious summer and be forced inside by the weather, what could be more welcome than a healthy dose of celebrity reality competitions?
With the Celebrity Big Brother winner recently crowned, a new season of Strictly kicking off and our annual jungle fix in the shape of I’m a Celeb right around the corner, we’re spoilt for choice. But, for the celebs themselves are they really a good PR move? Would we advise any of our clients to sign on the dotted line?
Not if you ask the likes of Roxanne Pallett, who left the recent CBB series (and Celebrity Island with Bear Grylls) under a cloud with her reputation – and future career – in tatters. She learned the hard way that putting yourself under the scrutiny of the public eye is never easy with her actions leaving her trending on twitter for days and trolled so intensely that she was forced to delete all social media.
And whatever happened to Gillian McKeith? She’s been MIA since viewers turned on her following a recurring fainting fiasco during 2010’s I’m a Celeb. Not to mention Kim Woodburn and Coleen Nolan, neither of whom came off well after last week’s Loose Women disaster stemming from their stint on CBB.
But, one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and it’s no secret that these shows have consistently reignited the careers of soap stars, politicians and presenters – this year’s CBB winner Ryan Thomas is set to earn millions following his PR battle win over ‘punchgate’.
If they play it right, these shows can also be a great platform for up-and-coming TV personalities – current Strictly contestant Joe Sugg is about to become a family favourite, cleverly using the dancing competition as a tool to bridge the gap between his 8.2 million-strong army of teenage YouTube subscribers and their parents.
It’s unlikely any Right Agency clients will be getting a call from a reality show producer anytime soon but if they did our advice would be clear, be yourself – as long as your ‘self’ is constantly calm, kind, patient, honest and non-controversial. Oh, who are we kidding? Who’d want to watch that??
