Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FOR THE LAST seven weeks, I’ve been deeply committed to watching Big Brother. Every night just shy of 9pm, I disappeared so I could stream the series from the quiet of my bedroom, and the company of BBabes, a WhatsApp group with two of my friends because we have nobody else to share our running commentary with.
The fact that Big Brother is back and the fact I have a WhatsApp group dedicated to it may take some of you by surprise, but six nights a week for the last seven weeks, it’s been my bedtime story.
During this stint, I was subject to ad breaks on ITV 2 or Virgin Media 2, depending on which channel didn’t delay Big Brother because of football or whatever. Ad breaks are something I had whittled out of my life with the different streaming services that take a sledgehammer to my bank account every month, and it was fascinating to see both channels try to direct my current addiction to their next reality product in line; I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!
Usually I’m somewhat familiar with the contestants, and this year was no exception with a cast that includes WAG turned WAGatha Coleen Rooney, Danny Jones from McFly, Irish boxer Barry McGuigan and the Female Boss herself Tulisa Contostavlos.
I was, however, surprised to recognise two as good panellists on Big Brother’s after-show Late and Live, a review show with contributions from former housemates of any season and celebrities of varying degrees.
Dean McCullough, who is actually known as a BBC 1 Radio presenter, and the utterly charming Obi Matuse, who started as a dancer on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing, and is now a judge on ITV’s Dancing on Ice, are just two of a long line of celebrities who make their coin by roaming the hallways of any reality TV studio, hoping to say their piece.
And I don’t blame them. It’s good earnings, with plenty of options to consider, keeping them busy throughout the year.
The Reality TV Cinematic Universe has become a very niche thing, but the Celebrity Reality TV Cinematic Universe is an incredibly niche thing. One that historically consists of idle pop stars, soap actors, gossip page dwellers, politicians in desperate need of good publicity, and people famous for having opinions on all of the above, can now include names you know from other reality series, people who have had viral success for a hot second, or chancers who lived with, worked for, or divorced someone actually famous.
Over the course of the last 25 years, most channels began to prioritise reality or celebrity-led TV as part of their primetime programming. Channel 4 chose edgier programmes like Big Brother, Come Dine With Me, Naked Attraction and 2016’s famously disastrous Eden, where the contestants and crew stayed living in the wilderness for weeks thinking their adventure was being televised when it was pulled from the air due to poor ratings.
Eden: Paradise Lost, the fallout from that, is available to stream on the Channel 4 Player and, my, is it juicy.
The BBC naturally takes a more wholesome approach to its reality entertainment, with Strictly Come Dancing signifying the end of summer and the start of cosy TV viewing. When the broadcasting giant lost the rights to air The Great British Bake Off, conceding to Channel 4, it seemed as if they lost their edge in the reality game.
That was until the smoky-eyed, blunt-fringed Claudia Winkleman emerged from the misty Scottish moors to present the UK version of The Traitors. Its American counterpart uses the same castle and the same tasks, but instead of Winkleman, we have Alan Cummings, and instead of just ordinary Joes competing for the cash prize, we have an assortment of reality TV royalty from the many global variations of Survivor, the different iterations of Real Housewives, and every creed of Big Brother.
The Traitors, no matter the region, is incredible reality TV, and it’s never too late to become one of its faithful followers.
However, ITV has taken the lead in recent years, with the likes of The X Factor, Love Island, The Only Way Is Essex and the latest reboot of Big Brother churning out such a heavy roster of new celebrities that it’s an industry unto itself.
All of these shows feed a new wave of fame, removing the need to source its stars externally, and the contestants can go on to milk the fame and extend the pay cheque by appearing on Dancing on Ice, I’m A Celeb, Celebrity Big Brother, Celebrity Bake Off and Strictly Come Dancing.
Love Island winner Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu iş testament to this milkage by competing on Dancing on Ice, Celebrity Big Brother and The Traitors US since winning the dating reality show in 2022 with her then amore Davide Sanclimenti. When these celebs have run out of competitive steam, they can appear as panellists on the reality TV after-shows to share their thoughts and opinions on their successors.
It’s an Ouroboros of celebrities who know what the job requires; drama, quick one-liners, catty but non-libelous remarks and catchphrases with the potential to monetise.
With top tier celebrities — or “top tier”, depending on your opinion — there’s always the risk that they could ruin their reputations or even their careers when they show a nasty streak, one that could be a low-risk as being a poor sport or as disgraceful as showing off a streak of racism, as S Club 7’s Jo O’Meara, Jade Goody and other contestants learned the hard way in 2007’s Celebrity Big Brother.
There’s a threshold of fame that reality stars can now reach. Everyday contestants can go on to achieve varying levels of stardom, from appearing in pantos and social media campaigns for supermarkets (here’s looking at you, Diane from The Traitors) to becoming TV hosts like Alison Hammond, whose career began on Big Brother in 2002.
However, it’s unlikely that we will see any reality stars boost their careers to the levels of the Kardashians or even Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie, who are reuniting for Paris & Nicole: The Encore this December, 17 years since the final episode of The Simple Life.
Reality TV is one great social experiment, and its stars reflect the world in which we live, something that actual celebrities can’t do. Love Island, for example, is a Grade A example of tribal behaviour between alpha males and seeing gaslighting unfold in real time, and Big Brother stokes the flames by placing people with opposing politics in confined spaces. As left-wing Ali hugged Tory-loving Nathan in the Big Brother garden, they said that even though they hate each other’s politics, they love each other. “This is how we solve wars,” joked Ali. If only.
Ultimately, though, reality TV isn’t that deep. While there’s a Gladiator savageness to it, these shows allow us to become passive participants as we switch our brains off for the day. If an empire of reality TV stars and broadcasters with a rotating door policy is what it takes to keep the fire lit, then keep these mid-level celebs coming.
Louise Bruton is a freelance journalist, specialising in the arts, pop culture and disability rights.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I don’t smoke, but will the minimum age to join the armed forces raise to 21? If you’re old enough to take up arms and die serving your country, then you’re old enough to smoke and drink, no matter how bad of a decision is. You can buy a house and get a mortgage at 18, you’re a tried as an adult when you’re 18. This legislation is wrong
@J Ven: Tobacco is a dangerous drug with zero redeeming qualities & you equate such an activity with serving one’s country, marriage, buying a house etc?
@J Ven: You can’t drive a bus until you’re 21, certain motorbikes until you’re 24. There are different age restrictions on different things. Who’d have thought it, eh?
@Patrice Ahern: What redeeming qualities does alcohol have?
@Ger Whelan: Wine adds wonderful flavour to foods.
Alcohol, in general, is a social lubricant.
@J Ven: Good luck getting a mortgage at 18
@Patrice Ahern: Sorry, but “J Ven” is absolutely right.
You can be in army, trained and potentially kill someone in combat, making the decision to shoot and kill, but cannot buy a pack of cigarettes?
That’s not smart, is it?
And yes, I also equate the maturity required to save Ireland in the army to be able to make the decision to smoke or not to smoke.
If you have the power to kill someone else = you NEED to have the power to decide if something can (legally) kill you.
In this case, either you’re 100% an adult and allowed to make to make your choices or you’re not.
@J Ven: it’s trying to stop people from taking it up.
@J Ven: you pay adult prices in a hotel and ur only 15
@Wolfgang Bonow: “to serve Ireland”. Let’s hope it won’t come to save Ireland :-)
@J Ven: Unfortunately, they don’t die for their countries , they die due to incredible greed!
@J Ven: Sometimes, people have to be protected from themselves. It’s our taxes which have to be used to keep these foolish people on ventilators and cancer hospitals when they have destroyed their lungs
Should include vapes
@Ian McDonald: Really shouldn’t. They are a life saver for people quitting smoking. 4500 annual deaths from smoking. Vapes on market almost 20 years. No fatalities. People smoke for the nicotine but die from the tar.
@NoelDublin: If people are too young to buy cigarettes, then they’re hardly using vapes to wean themselves off a lifetime addiction, are they?
@Stephen Brennan: still dangerous kid’s as young as 12 smoking them dangerous and adictive
@NoelDublin: wait till statistics for vapes are eventually released,they were originally meant to get people off cigarettes and nicotine not a replacement
@NoelDublin: There have been a very small number of fatalities reported for vapes but it’s literally one or two in much larger countries.
They are however highly addictive but addiction with no other issues is not really a big problem. Half the country is addicted to tea after all.
@Stephen Brennan: Heroin and cocaine are already illegal.
@Karen Marten: dangerous based on what? Decades of vaping, decades of studies, vaping is a safe alternative to smoking and has brought millions away from deadly tobacco.
Don’t smoke but if u can marryv and vote at 18 why can’t u decide to smoke if one wants…gov. just wants to be first and leading the way on this ” important” issue…sure housing , employment issues and more not so pressing…I think not…
@Padraig Devaney: No such thing as housing crisis.
@Alex: there’s probably isn’t as there’s no houses available….
@Padraig Devaney: Marrying and voting is not a public health issue (insert poor joke here), so it’s not the same at all. You cannot safely smoke cigarettes (second-hand smoke issues aside).
@Alex: yes their is
@Padraig Devaney: There is an argument from a healthcare cost point of view to try something. As someone who has smoked through the value of a new car, I wish the age was 21 when I was a teenager.
This government has no mandate vast majority of people want a change we are the most expensive for everything we need yet all they can think of is bringing in more legislation that’s not required they should get on with solving the real issues housing ,hospitals, illegal migration policing or lack of same
@Derek Collins: the vast majority of people voted for government parties in the recent local and European elections. So how can you be sure they want a change?
@Ger Whelan:
Ger,
The government parties all lost seats in the elections I won’t mention the referendums I’m not a right winger or left swinger I’m a 70 year old that can’t believe how gullible Irish voter’s are this is just more smoke and mirrors excuse the pun but he’d be better looking after his portfolio and sort out the overcrowding in our hospital’s and turn the key on the children’s hospital.
@Derek Collins: the Dail was elected to serve a term of no more than 5 years. Thats the mandate.
@Derek Collins: It’s not an either/or thing. This costs nothing to implement and should bring health benefits.
Sorting out the hospital overcrowding will take time, money and proper planning. We need more of everything in hospitals, staff, beds, equipment, space …
As for the children’s hospital that needed good planning and management a long time ago and has had neither. Now all that seems possible is to throw money at it until it’s done.
@Paul C: @Paul C: There is no such thing as a mandate.
That is a contrivance of political parties to pretend they have the support to do things the people do not want them to do.
This is a very good idea. It won’t affect those currently allowed smoke, all it does is make it harder for young nonsmokers to take up the habit in the first place.b
@Stephen Brennan: Good luck with what?
@Stephen Brennan: Young people are much more inclined to take up vaping. A 15 or 16 year old won’t even see the attraction to smoking when the only people they see smoking are aulde wans.
@Stephen Brennan: They see their peers and those slightly older drinking so they see an appeal. In 20 years the only ones smoking would be 40+. Not quite as cool looking. And if they’re looking at buying something illegal, I suspect there’s better options than cigarettes.
@Stephen Brennan: that’s a different argument as we have different age limits for different things.
Government should mind there own business
Makes sense. Phase it out. More money in the average persons purse. Hard to argue with it.
For the young, they will know no different as less will smoke in 5/10 years.
Pity they wouldnt put a set date on the ban and anyone younger than that date will never be legal allowed purchase. A date would completely phase it out.
@Stephen Brennan: It will lower numbers and let the Gardai sort out the criminals. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
@Stephen Brennan: It’s not a cliff edge ban, it’ll be a gradual thing that in a generation should bring about a huge change. There wouldn’t even be a demand for black market supply.
@Stephen Brennan: Of course prohibition doesn’t work. This is a phase out strategy. If it was a direct ban, it would be different but try and picture the scenario in 20 years.
@Stephen Brennan: Granted, it’s not quite as good as the phasing out version that was going to be introduced in New Zealand. I’d be hoping that’d be the next step.
@Stephen Brennan: It was scrapped because the government didn’t want to lose out financially in the short term.
@Paddy Russell: The fact is by 2028 hardly anyone under 21 will smoke or be tempted to, in fact hardly anyone under 25 will. This has been the trend in the US and now New Zealand since vapes became available. Sweden has hardly any under 25′s smoking, the availability of smoke-free alternatives makes smoking absolute.
The problem with a ban on cigarettes is it creates an illicit market, look at how well the prohibition of cannabas worked.
Grow up Ireland and make your own choices once over 18 years old, granny state
While Ireland is still struggling to bring down smoking rates, Sweden is about to become the first smoke free country. They’ve done this by embracing harm reduction. I don’t understand why Ireland doesn’t take this fatal issue seriously and follow Sweden. https://smokefreesweden.org/
@NoelDublin: taxes
Pure optics, buy your duty free cigs on henry st and moore st in dublin and you can be 13 years of age.
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: Yea, I can just see the kids from all across the country making for Henry Street every few days.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: same in all cities and towns, moore st dubillin being a mere example
@Mr “JonnieBoy” Johnson: You haven’t got to see much of Ireland, have you?
Anyone else remember the little corner shops that would sell 5 to anyone, any age?
Ah the, cough cough, memories.
@Paddy Whelan: Do you remember Sweet Cigarettes?
Little packs of cigarette shaped sweets for little kids.
They even had a red end, to simulate a lit cigarette.
But if it was an increase in price it would take effect at 12 o clock tonight without fail rest assured of that.
Does anyone seriously believe that retailers of tobacco products are going to enforce this legislation by asking adults for proof of their age?
@William Tallon: In Seattle weed shops they do every time because theirs a camera and the police and licensing authority can and do check on them and will shut them down for infractions.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: I can’t see that happening in my local Centra if someone who might be slightly underage is just looking to buy 20 Johnny Blue, though, or the Guards being particularly bothered over infractions…
@William Tallon: It would have to be a mandatory condition of the license to sell tobacco products. Just like the closed cabinet instead of open shelves.
As for the Guards not being bothered, one complaint that little Johnny bought some fags, a quick check of the video (by Guards or licensing authority) and license revoked. Backed up by random checks. No retailer is going to risk their licence to print money by being a dealer in addictive drugs.
Compliance would be fast and complete.
@Steve O’Hara-Smith: Good luck to any government trying to introduce those types of mandatory conditions/random checks here, especially given that we’re talking about tobacco and not weed! This is Ireland, not the U S. It’s not going to happen…
@William Tallon: Most likely shops stop selling tobacco altogether. All those licensing issues are pretty standard. No doubt it it’s the franchise owner they ‘enforce’ this legislation through tho, would doubt our lot have the spine for Centra or Circle K.
What about Vapes. Why not them.
@Stephen Brennan: they are still addictive and no one knows yet what damage they are doing
@Margaret Deacon: Lots of things are harmful and addictive. This relates to tobacco products.
@Stephen Brennan: Vapes contain nicotine.
A highly addictive and poisonous drug.
@Stephen Brennan: Source for the claim that nicotine is no more dangerous than caffeine, Stephen?
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: So do tomatoes and potatoes and aborigines. Poison is in the dose.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere:
https://www.rsph.org.uk/about-us/news/nicotine–no-more-harmful-to-health-than-caffeine-.html
Good news.
One thing that confuses me is how people can call for the decriminalisation of harder drugs along with regulation and taxation while simultaneously calling for the criminalisation of tobacco, allowing criminal enterprises the opportunity to step in. I understand both pro- and anti-regulation arguments, but it seems odd to me to think just doing the opposite of what we do now will sort out both problems.
The file image is so dated, haven’t seen those colourful boxes in a while
This was reported a while back, quiet day at the office!
@Brian Hunt: Says the man leaving comments on The Journal! What was reported recently was the law itself, the enactment date was only announced yesterday.
We need to stop treating young people as kids. This is nonsense.
The pure drivel coming from the sheep in this comments section is embarrassing.
This is a bs law that will change nothing.
They just want to be seen to be doing something. I wouldn’t blame a snake for being a snake but you people really shock me every time.
Should be done straight away or banned even better,
have your say