The science of celebrity: why we’re obsessed with them

heat investigates the psychology behind our love of celeb culture FEATURE

Since the world pretty much shifted on its axis in March, it’s opened up a whole new window into the world of celebrity and we’re being treated to a side of the rich and famous we never thought we’d see. Kate and Wills are home schooling, the Beckhams are baking lemon drizzle cakes and Kylie Jenner is now having to walk around her mansion without hair extensions.

Last week saw stars from all over the world join together (from isolation) to take part in One World: Together At Home – a global broadcast to support frontline workers organised by Lady Gaga. And while the heartfelt show raised millions for its cause, it also gave us a chance to take a good old snoop around the mansions of huge celebrities.

We were granted unprecedented access inside their homes, from

the bizarre staging of Elton John’s performance – seemingly on his sons’ basketball court – to Ellie Goulding’s very well-stocked bar trolley in the background of hers. Escapism at its finest.

CELEBS ON THE BRAIN

Even in this completely atypical situation, it seems that we still can’t get enough of our favourite A-listers. And according to psychologist Dr Donna Rockwell, it’s not something we celeb fans actually have too much control over. “The reason that we see a celebrity and our entire body freaks out is because, neurologically, we’ve seen that image many, many times before. When they come up in our news feed, we pay rapt attention. We pay attention, because our brain is firing, and we need to follow those neurological directives.”

You only have to think of images of girls fainting at the sight of The

Beatles – or more recently, One Direction – to understand that our relationship with celebrity provokes very real neurological reactions.

In the 2013 documentary film, One Direction: This is Us, Simon Cowell jokes fans are “crazy” for the group. The film then cuts to an explanation from neuroscientist Dr Stefan Koelsch, who clarifies, “As soon as Directioners listen to music and find the music pleasurable, what happens in the brain is that a neurochemical called dopamine is released and provides feelings of joy and happiness – shivers, goose bumps and strong pleasure. The girls are not ‘crazy’, the girls are just excited.”

BACK TO BASICS

It seems that neurologically we derive pleasure from seeing and engaging with famous people – whether that’s through singing their songs or double tapping a picture on Instagram. And while social media has played a huge part in being able to connect to our idols, we’re told this worship goes way back to our animal instincts.

“Cultural, anthropological and historical studies show us that human societies have always had a need to ‘worship’ things, and sure enough, this was often special people in society – the best hunters, athletes, the most beautiful, the smartest, the most spiritual,” psychologist James Houran explains.

And in a way, we really do worship celebrities. We call Beyoncé “Queen B”, we use the phrase “we stan” (referring to the Eminem song about an obsessive fan) to show our love for stars, and we made Kylie Jenner the youngest “self-made” billionaire by buying into her family’s brand.

But as well as putting them on a gilded pedestal, in an age of social media, we love to know celebs can be just like us, too. They have “ugly” days, they fight with their

families, and they sometimes set a social media trap to catch a fellow celeb who has been selling stories about them… OK, so that was just Coleen Rooney. But back in October 2019, when the famous WAG claimed “Rebekah Vardy’s account” had been leaking stories about her to a tabloid newspaper, hundreds of thousands of people went on to tweet the hashtag #Wagathachristie, which was coined swiftly after the initial post. We can’t help but be fascinated by the highs and lows of celebrity lives. We like to know they’re as fallible as the rest of us.

RELATABLE

The rise of social media has played a huge part in fans connecting with celebrities and the celebs themselves being able to show that they’re just like us – well, the us we’d like to be if we were sitting in a mega-mansion contemplating which pool we’d like to take a dip in.

Someone who knows what it is like to go from “normal” to life in the spotlight is Love Island’s Amy Hart. Reality shows entirely tie into our obsession with showbusiness – we get to see someone be turned into a fully-fledged celebrity before our eyes. Though, Amy says she was expecting to go back to her day job working for British Airways after her turn on the show in 2019.

“I knew that there would be some, shall we say, notoriety with appearing on Love Island,” she tells heat. “My original plan was to go on, find a boyfriend, then go back to flying with some Insta followers, so I could earn a bit extra on the side. Obviously, it didn’t work out like that!”

The 27 year old thinks it’s the “escape from our daily lives” that has us so plugged into celebrity culture, and while she says “nothing can prepare you for overnight recognition,” Amy can see the positives in fame, too. She tells us it’s “heartwarming to have people you’ve never met supporting your endeavours”.

Well, we’re more than happy to keep supporting those endeavours, as long as we keep getting a glimpse into the lifestyles of the rich and famous. From reality stars to royalty, we are entirely tuned into the soap opera of stardom. And in times like these, a bit of escapism is just what the neuroscientist ordered. ■

‘Humans have always had a need to worship things’