HAZEL FEELS EMPATHY FOR CELEBS IS MISSING
Actor Hazel Keech says being in the public eye puts one through unfair scrutiny
Earlier this year, actor Hazel Keech, the wife of cricketer Yuvraj Singh, shared an empowering post detailing her battle with depression, bulimia, and the pressure to fit in as well as about how she is finally comfortable in her own skin. And she agrees that it does tend to get aggravated when one is in a profession such as showbiz.
“Mental health issues derive from a feeling or belief that I’m not good enough. I can’t say definitively that mine did or didn’t come from showbiz since I’ve been performing since I was five,” she says, adding, “But yes, being in an industry where you’re constantly poked, prodded, dissected, and told ‘parts of your face or body are fine but other parts need to be surgically altered’ and that you’re not pretty/slim/tall/ sexy enough does chip away at your self-esteem. Thankfully, asking for help is becoming less and less of a taboo these days.”
The British-Mauritian model-turned-actor, who is best known for starring in Bodyguard (2011), has stayed away from films ever since. But that does not mean that she has been away from the public eye as she is now also a star wife (she married Yuvraj in 2016). So how easy or difficult is it to be one?
“Being married is a lot of hard work, more than I anticipated. Being a star’s wife, as you say, means getting used to people asking for photos, sometimes following us, chasing us, which is also something that’s not new to me; only with Yuvi, it’s on a much larger scale,” she says, adding how marriage and running a home “is a lot more work and effort, but when you find its rhythm and synergy, you’re like ‘it’s the best thing I’ve done in my life so far’”.
Being a celebrity means you are under constant scrutiny and there are always conjectures about you. Talking about how one’s marriage or relationships stand the test of that, Hazel says, “It seems some people don’t want their lives or comforts to change when someone they know is getting married, and so they focus more on themselves rather than being happy for them. This intentionally or unintentionally puts a big strain on a new relationship.”
She adds, “Some people forget that celebrities are people too and this isn’t a reality TV show. We feel and go through trials and tribulations, and sometimes we make it and are stronger for it and sometimes we don’t. Some people seem to have lost compassion for each other.”