Anyone in the spotlight gets slated for living a normal young person’s life. The moment they’re snapped leaving a club in the early hours of the morning worse for wear the footballer, singer or actor is made to feel ashamed for not being a ‘role model’. Most teenagers spend half their lives watching these personalities on TV or reading about them in magazines. Whether they asked for the fame or not, celebrities know that now in 2013 they are the people who are most talked about and who fans will look at as a role model. Is that why this generation – shamefully my generation – is known for its boozy ways thanks to the TV likes of Geordie Shore, Big Brother and Sun, sex and suspicious parents?

Anyone reading this that knows me will be thinking – hypocrite – I’ve had plenty of drunken nights as a fresher, two months working in Zante therefore two months of SSSP behaviour and TOWIE is my guilty pleasure I’ve even been known to queue up  to meet Joey Essex… But that’s the point I’m making, it took watching Celebrity Big Brother winner Charlotte Crosby of Geordie Shore for me to realise I no longer want to be a typical 19 year old of this generation. I watched the first series of the controversial, popular MTV series before realising I no longer wanted to watch people have sex and get drunk and mostly because the accent grinded on me. But I did agree with most of the population that Charlotte was a funny, entertaining, genuine girl so when she went into the Big Brother house I was looking forward to her entertaining antics. Whilst most of the public (OK maybe not ‘most’, but the Big Brother audience) obviously grew to love her, as she won the show and received constant cheers and screams, I grew to realise that this was the representation of our generation and she made me want to change.

People (meaning – my parents) often say ‘if you could see yourself’ or ‘if you could hear yourself’ to make you realise your behaviour and watching Charlotte on Big Brother honestly made me feel like I was watching a part of myself. Seeing the drunken behaviour, sex talk and constant swearing made me feel that if people could see me like that I’d be ashamed! But then it hit me that I’d acted like that on many intoxicated occasions and I know I’m not the only one, but I don’t think anyone realises it until watching themselves back or seeing someone else act in a way that makes them cringe! When Charlotte won the show, although I saw it coming it almost made me angry because I thought why does she deserve it for giving us bed wetting, shouting and swearing and telling us how good she is at giving blow jobs?! When she had an argument with Coronation Street actress Vicky Entwistle suddenly the crowd turned on Vicky with hatred and boos but all favoured vile mouthed Charlotte. This is when I started to think – really? This is what the public look up too?

I know the whole of the public can’t be based on the Big Brother audience and I know not everyone our age acts like this. But there’s a big chance this is how our generation will be remembered and it will probably only get worse as TV ‘personalities’ are taking over and everyone wants to be like them to gain the fame and fandom they receive. Another thing that made me mad, as an aspiring journalist, is that Charlotte now has her own column – for doing what exactly?!

I’m not saying I’m going to become a housebound bore; I’m still going to go out and have fun, my social life isn’t going to change, I’m just now determined to drink less so I don’t look back and cringe, swear less so I don’t sound disgusting and act more lady like!

So thank you Charlotte Crosby for influencing me – to not be like you.