Britney Spears and Katie Price show why the price of fame can be far too high – Fiona Duff

Britney Spears and her partner Sam Asghari seen in 2019 (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

There may be money, free holidays and invitations to parties, but is it worth the hassle of having your every moment captured on someone’s smart phone or chased by a flock of paparazzi when you pop out to the local shop to buy a paper? Basically, being in the public eye really doesn’t seem to make people happy.

The two ladies in question who brought this thought into my head are Britney Spears and Katie Price. The former was celebrating the suspension of her father’s conservatorship of her life. For 13 years she has had virtually no control over any decision of what to do with her money, her body and, even worse, her mind. She’s put out to work like a performing dog, gyrating to her hit songs on a Las Vegas stage whilst no doubt dying just a little bit every night.

She has a boyfriend with whom she would like to have a baby, but has an IUD contraceptive device fitted which she is not allowed to remove. Apparently she cannot even choose what colour to have her nails painted, never mind the walls of her home. Perhaps worst of all she is on all sorts of prescription drugs. If she does not do what her father insists, she is institutionalised, locked away like a five-year-old sent to the naughty step.

And then to Katie Price, a woman who has rarely been out of the papers since taking her top off for a Page 3 shoot 25 years ago. We seem to know everything you could possibly know about the ‘media personality’ formerly known as Jordan. And quite a lot we could happily live without knowing to be honest.

How can anyone who has had so much surgery to their body and face be happy? How many husbands does one lady need to know that marriage isn’t always a happy-ever-after?

Her fame seems to stem from her honesty: she doesn’t shirk from slagging off other celebrities and falls out with management, boyfriends and others regularly. Who else would say as their defence, on being found in an upside down car at 6am, uninsured, unlicensed, over the limit, and with traces of cocaine in her blood that she was driving to see a friend because she was feeling ‘lonely’.

Katie Price admitted drink-driving, driving without insurance and while disqualified following a car crash (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Getty Images)

Although now on the wane, thankfully, I used to feel so sorry for all those little wannabes queuing to audition for X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent. Despite most of those who appeared on stage having been handpicked by talent scouts roaming the length and breadth of the UK, the hope in the eyes of lines of the mostly talentless waiting was really rather pathetic. What price to pay to be handcuffed to Simon Cowell for your creative lifespan and the possibility of being asked to take part in Celebrity Masterchef.

There are some who seem to relish their fame, and indeed put it to good use. It’s rare to see George Clooney without a big grin on his physog and he speaks out about humanitarian issues in a way that actually makes people listen. Mind you, I bet he doesn’t dare drop his kids off at school in his pyjamas.

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