Ruth A. Deller @ruthdeller

Celebrity Reality TV and the Fame Cycle

Celebrity Reality TV and the Fame Cycle

• Talent and/or skill development (e.g. Dancing with the

Stars, Maestro, Strictly Come Dancing, Masterchef)

• Fly on the wall (e.g. The Osbournes, Keeping up with the

Kardashians, Kerry Katona: Crazy in Love)

• Lifestyle experiment or cultural 'journey' (e.g. Famous,

Rich and Homeless, Paddy and Sally, Celebrity Wife

Swap)

• Charity specials (e.g. Let's Dance, Comic Relief Does

Fame Academy, Celebrity Bake-Off)

• Hybrid formats (e.g. I'm a Celebrity..., Celebrity Big

Brother)

• Celebrities and the 'public' (e.g. Jade's PA, Paris Hilton's

BFF, Celebrity Bachelor, BB's Celebrity Takeover)

Appeal of celebrity reality• 'With normal Big Brother we're making

ordinary people extraordinary. With this, we're making famous people very, very ordinary' (Phil Edgar Jones cited in Biressi and Nunn, 2005: 147).

• A deconstruction of the celebrity facade? (Holmes, 2006)

• An insight into the 'real' person? (Holderman 2007, Payne 2009)

• A 'level' playing field? (Bonner 2013)

'It is surely in part the notion of celebrity as a 'risky

lottery' that fosters interest in the time-line of fame: we

only need think of the magazine/television appetite for

featuring articles and programmes on celebrities before

or after 'they were famous'. While these suggest

different perspectives on and investments in celebrity,

interest partly emerges here from tracking a trajectory

through the process of fame, and its temporal impact on

the physical, cultural and economic fortunes of the

self... the media value of celebrity suggests that the

'ordinary' world must be escaped from, although it is

paradoxically by making a claim to the 'ordinary' that

this very process occurs' (Holmes 2006: 47-48)

Promotional celebrity

'Proper' celebrity

(Re)-Purposed celebrity

Post-celebrity

Pre-celebrity

Proto-celebrity

The fame cycle

Pre-celebrity• Not famous: 'ordinary' people.

• Celetoids - Rojek (2001) - attributed fame

• Route to fame via 'regular' reality or factual television shows

(e.g. X Factor, Big Brother, Wife Swap, TOWIE)

• May be part of celeb/ordinary people reality TV (e.g. Chantelle

Houghton in Celebrity Big Brother; Celebrity Bachelor

contestants, Jade's PA entrants etc)

• Potential to extend fame through further reality television.

• Popular/well-known reality TV stars who progress through 'fame

cycle' useful for celebrity reality shows - not only are they free

and affordable, they understand the 'games' of RTV and how to

make programmes watchable.

Proto-celebrity• Well-known in a specialist or niche field (e.g. glamour models,

minority sports stars, professional dancers)

• Fame through association (e.g. spouse, parent/child, partner of a

celebrity) - ascribed fame (Rojek 2001). Help audiences

speculate on the 'real' X.

• Small amount of fame/renown through other reality TV, news

events or other media (e.g. Chris Crocker, Luisa Zissman) –

prolonging celebrity.

• May be celebrities in their home country trying to boost brand

globally (e.g. Heidi and Spencer)

Proto-celebrity• Celebrity reality TV about brand boosting and brand extension:

reaching a wider audience, prolonging initial 15 minutes of fame.

• 'Who are they? Why have they been cast?' - they raise

questions for audience.

Promotional celebrity• Using fame to promote another brand or programme - or their

own brand/outputs.

• Works well with talent/skill-oriented shows (e.g. Masterchef,

Strictly) as participants shown to also have 'day job' and thus

strong work ethic. (Bonner 2013)

• Stars often known, but maybe not to everyone (e.g. Hollyoaks

actors)

• '[R]eality-talent shows enable in-house promotions to be seen

at a time when much viewing is done in modes which

encourage the excision of ads and promotion slots. In this they

parallel the increase in product placement... the products

‘placed’ within the programmes are the other sites of the

contestants' celebrity... Celebrities' own brands are enhanced,

too.' (Bonner 2013: 170)

'Proper' celebrity• Not necessarily just “A-list”, but those who are well-known and

successful within their field.

• Does not need to participate - already successful and well-known.

• May take a role as a presenter, mentor or judge (on either celebrity

or 'civilian' reality shows).

• May use reality TV (or its celeb equivalent) as a promo vehicle

through being a guest performer or commentator.

• Or may simply be 'too big' for reality TV altogether.

• Likewise - reality TV doesn't really need them - what is the

interesting story if someone is a success?

• Kim Kardashian possible exception here - but her fame largely

came through association with other celebs including reality TV

(The Simple Life).

'Proper' celebrity• Some may use carefully-managed 'fly-on-the-wall' reality as

promo (e.g. Miley: The Movement)

• [In I'm a Celebrity] 'what apparently unites the participants, as

the Executive Producer claims, is that that they are not 'really

really famous' people. This, he explains, wouldn't work

because: 'While casting is crucial, part of the reason [we select

the celebrities for the programme] is that ... there's always a ...

question mark about why they're famous. It gives that slight

edge to it - just the way they all compete with each other for

the camera. Here, the claim is that I'm a Celebrity revels in the

decline of a merited claim to fame, which is apparently integral

to the entire dynamic of the show'. (Holmes 2006: 48)

(Re)Purposed Celebrity• Appearance has a 'purpose' to it.

• Learning a new skill or talent - possibility for brand extension or

change of career direction (e.g. Maestro, Celebrity Masterchef).

• For some, raising awareness of politics or causes as motivation

– but is real purpose to be a (liked) celebrity?

• Reputation and image management as part of rehabilitative

strategy (e.g. Jim Davidson, Michael Barrymore).

• 'I never expected it to come out through Dancing With the

Stars. You clear 21 million sq. meters of landmine-filled land

and you fitted 400,000 people with limbs and [people] go on to

vilify you. You do two-and-a-half to three dances and suddenly

you're amazing. It's crazy!' (Heather Mills, cited in Quinlan and

Bates 2008: 69).

(Re)Purposed Celebrity• 'On one hand, such programming aims to uncover extra levels

of extraordinary talent among existing television personalities,

often as a cross-promotional device for the same network, all

the while reinforcing audience empathy with the stars' ordinary

human struggles to overcome new challenges. On the other

hand, audiences are given additional opportunities for what

Jeffrey Sconce (2004, 453) calls 'celebrity schadenfreude', in

which we get to spectate as minor stars of questionable talent

make fools of themselves, disproving any claim to

extraordinary status'. (Payne 2009: 297)

Post-Celebrity• Fame has waned - 'has-beens'.

• Reality television as vehicle to relaunch fame and re-enter

'special place' (Holmes 2006).

• RTV as critique on fame (e.g. The Big Reunion).

• Part of appeal - strong story potential: why are they no longer

famous? Do they still have 'it'? What happens after fame?

• Post-celebrity > Pre-celebrity. Some stars fame has waned so

much they enter 'civilian' reality not 'celebrity' (e.g. Pauline, Big

Brother; Cleo, The Voice UK)

When it works...

When it doesn't...

Perpetual reality stars...

Brigitte Nielsen: The Mole, The Surreal Life, Big Brother VIP (Denmark), Celebrity Big Brother (UK), Killing Brigitte Nielsen, Celebrity Rehab, Celebrity Makeover, La Ferme Célébrités, Let's Dance, Come Dine With Me, Aus alt mach neu – Brigitte Nielsen in der Promi-Beauty-Klinik, Ich bin ein Star – Holt mich hier raus!, Maestro (Denmark),  Promi-Hochzeitsplanern...Goldie: Celebrity Big Brother (UK), The Games, Maestro (UK), Classic Goldie, Goldie's Band, Strictly Come Dancing, Come Dine With Me...

Amy Childs: The Only Way is Essex, Celebrity Big Brother (UK), It's All About Amy, Let's Dance for Sport Relief, The Bank Job, The Jump, Celebrity Wedding Planner...

The reality cycle?

High-tier show

Reality Judge or guest

'Civilian'show

Low-tier show

Mid-tier show

Own reality show

Shows and status

• Hill (2008): Viewers perceptions of ‘quality’ of reality

shows – often connected to broadcaster and to show

format/aims – e.g. educative vs 'sensational’ (See also

Sconce 2004).

• Shows that encourage 'work' can have a higher calibre

than those that don't (Bonner 2013).

• Broadcaster also important (e.g. ITV2 vs BBC Two).

Shows and status (Hill 2008)

The perfect blend?

The perfect blend?

The perfect blend?Debating degrees of fame on I’m a Celebrity (29 mins onward) and Celebrity Big Brother.

Promotional celebrity

'Proper' celebrity

(Re)-Purposed celebrity

Post-celebrity

Pre-celebrity

Proto-celebrity

The fame cycle

Conclusion• Celebrity Reality TV as a way of testing a star's claim to fame.

• Useful for different celebrities at different points in their career.

• Can be a tool for profile boosting and prolonging celebrity, for

promoting a cause, product or brand, for achieving a purpose

or re-purposing one's fame, or for reviving fame that has

dwindled.

• Different shows, formats and channels work in different ways

and can be beneficial to different celebrities.

• RTV is not a guaranteed 'success' - people win through trying

hard (Bonner 2013) and by being 'ordinary' (Holmes 2006).

• Successful RTV shows need a diverse mix of cast from different

fields at different points in the fame cycle.

• Biressi, A and Nunn, H (2004) 'The Especially Remarkable: Celebrity and Social Mobility in Reality TV', Mediactive 2: 44-58.

• Biressi, A and Nunn, H (2005) Reality TV: Realism and Revelation, London: Wallflower.

• Bonner, F. (2013), 'Celebrity, work and the reality-talent show: Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars', Celebrity Studies 4 (2): 169-181

• Braudy, Leo (1986) The Frenzy of Renown: Fame and its History, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Cadwalladr, C. (2011), 'Goldie interview: the alchemist', The Observer, 30 January 2011, http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/30/goldie-interview-the-alchemist, accessed December 2011

• Couldry, N (2004) 'Teaching us to Fake It: The Ritualized Norms of Television's "Reality" Games', in Murray, S and Ouellette, L (eds), Reality TV: Re-making Television Culture, New York: New York University Press, pp. 57-74.

• Hill, A. (2005), Reality TV: Audiences and Popular Factual Television, London: Routledge.

• Hill, A. (2008) Restyling factual TV : audiences and news, documentary and reality genres. London: Routledge.

References

• Holmes, S (2006) 'It's a Jungle Out There!: The Game of Fame in Celebrity Reality TV'. In: Holmes, S and Redmond, S (eds) Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity Culture. London: Routledge, pp. 45-66

• Holderman, L. (2007), '"Ozzy worked for those bleeping doors with the crosses on them": The Osbournes as Social Class Narrative' in Holmes, S. and Redmond, S. (eds), Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader, London: Sage, 287-297.

• McLean, C. (2011), 'What Happens When Boy Bands Grow Up' in The Observer, 24 July 2011, available: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jul/24/when-boy-bands-grow-up

• Palmer, G. (2005), 'The Undead: Life on the D-List', Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 2 (2): 37-53.

• Payne, R. (2009) Dancing with the ordinary: Masculine celebrity performance on Australian TV, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 23:3, 295-306

• Quinlan, M.M. & Bates, B.R. (2008): 'Dances and Discourses of (Dis)Ability: Heather Mills's Embodiment of Disability on Dancing with the Stars', Text and Performance Quarterly, 28:1-2, 64-80.

• Sconce, J. (2004). 'See you in hell Johnny Bravo!' In: S. Murray and L. Oullette, eds. Reality TV: remaking television culture. New York University Press, 251–267

References