Why do we love celebrities?

Why do we love to watch celebrities appear on “reality tv”? The recent finale of The Celebrity Traitors, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, was watched by 11million people.

Flicking through the channels, you can watch everything from Celebrity Gogglebox, Celebrity Come Dine with Me, to Celebrity Bake Off, Celebrity Hunted, as well as the classic that is Strictly Come Dancing starring… celebrities! We don’t actually know these people. But we feel like we do, and as shows like Traitors roll out, we might feel like we know them better, and talk about them more, than we do our own families. But what makes us keep coming back for more – and keep on talking about them?

Some suggest it is schadenfreude, the German idea of finding joy in other’s loss or downfall, adjacent to envy perhaps. We might think of celebrities as having fabulous, unattainable lives. Despite the warning in Proverbs 24, is there something in us that enjoys seeing them brought down with a bump in shows like I’m a Celebrity? But watching the celebs in the Traitors stunning castle hardly makes me envy them less; I feel more empathy watching them overcome fears or achieve victories, while being taken on an emotional journey to share in their small triumph. Their cathartic win takes you away from your own challenges just a little.