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I’m A Celebrity… The Great Beauty Debate

The Great Beauty Debate

It’s that time of year again when the nation prepares to be thoroughly entertained by the new batch of celebs entering the Australian Jungle for I’m a Celebrity Get me Out of Here. However, this year it’s not a z-lister choking on a kangaroo testicle that has me gawping at the telly in disbelief. Last night Olympic gold medal- winning swimmer, Rebecca Adlington, was reduced to tears during a conversation about beauty and beauty pageants with her fellow female campmates and I was, quite frankly, disappointed.

The conversation, which was started by Miss Universe winner and Jordan protégé, Amy Willerton, took a bullying turn when the other female campmates rounded on Willerton for- what they believed to be- her rather vacuous career choice, leaving a bitter taste in the mouth, probably much worse than any witchedygrub could. It seemed that some of the women were using this opportunity to jump on their soap boxes and air their own self-confidence issues, but I’m sure I wasn’t alone in being stunned by Rebecca’s tearful reaction to the topic.

Clearly in distress, Rebecca admitted that she hates the way she looks, and that she has suffered jibes about her appearance in the past. This issue has been bubbling away since day one, when Rebecca has been spotted casting sideways glances at a bikini clad Amy. However, while all of us have the occasional wobble when we look in the mirror and remember we are not Cheryl Cole, I couldn’t help but feel that Rebecca’s admission was worse for the self-esteem of millions of young women than the beauty pageants she and her campmates were debating.  After all Rebecca is an Olympic champion, she did Great Britain incredibly proud last Summer, and her body is capable of amazing things.  It is for this reason that millions of young women look up to her, and it is for this reason that she is such a refreshing role model. She is not famous for her raunchy music videos, or shampoo deals, but for being an incredibly disciplined, talented sportswoman.

This is what makes it so tragic that Rebecca has been worn down by Twitter trolls who have decided to ignore her incredible talent and achievements, and instead focus on her looks. Nobody should be allowed to make another human being feel like this, but then nor should Rebecca and co make Amy feel bad for being pretty. In this day and age where so much emphasis is placed on looks, these girls should be using their jungle experiences to show what their bodies are capable of, and not how they look in a bikini.

Kathleen Isaac

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