Bachelorette Australia - Season 3 - Sophie Monk - Media Social Media - *Sleuthing Spoilers*

Was finding love worth the price of fame for Stu?
EDWINA MCCANN, Vogue Editor, The Sunday Telegraph
October 28, 2017 11:00pm

I GUESS you might be reading this column because it is written by the editor of Vogue and you are interested in fashion. If so, I will need to beg your pardon in advance because I am going to go off topic.
I know Stu Laundy and I like him. He’s charming, self deprecatingly funny — he can make you belly laugh — and I had no doubt Sophie would pick him, and not just for the money. His brother, MP Craig Laundy, is a good, smart and hardworking man. Craig’s wife is lovely as are the family I’ve met, and I’m really fond of his father Arthur too.

Stu comes with the lot of them which makes for a pretty compelling package for Sophie. But when he mentioned that he was going on The Batchelorette I had to ask: why? Even if true love was to be found at the end of the media-fanned, reality TV tunnel, was it worth the inevitable price of fame?

It seems fame has become our most valued commodity. When an individual’s fame is derived from eminence, I guess that is a good thing. When a public profile can’t be avoided or it is just part of the job, then some privacy should guarded so as not impact everyone around you unnecessarily. Certainly perks and access come with fame and children of the famous can be the beneficiaries. For those impacted by proximity to fame the pride or advantages are determined by the reasons for it. Put simply: whether the individual is infamous or famous.

For many super rich, fame is an unwelcome byproduct of our fascination with the lives of the wealthy. Money allows them to hide away on super yachts and private estates.

Perhaps in this age of transparency and intense sharing, privacy isn’t something we value any more. Maybe I am a dinosaur and it just doesn’t matter. It could be argued that it’s in the public interest to know what is going on onboard those yachts and islands but I am not convinced fame is great for kids. There is no doubt that some anonymity and a lot of normality is healthy in any child’s upbringing. Fame can’t just be switched off. The kids never choose to be famous, and it’s worse if the parent becomes infamous.

Stu’s ex-wife has clearly gone to great lengths to keep the children out of the media which I think is smart and responsible. Whether or not they like Sophie, whether or not the match lasts, is something best muddled through away from the cameras.

Children can suffer greatly when they become a commodity — accidental or not — in the fame-chasing game. I know this only too well thanks to my proximity to someone who is already infamous and addicted to media attention for all the wrong reasons, and I am certainly not talking about Stu.

Back to the fashion next week.