Celebrity Influence: Why We Idolise Influencers (And Why It Can Be a Problem) | Ep. 151

Why do we trust celebrities, influencers, and so-called “experts” so easily?

In this episode of The Wellness Connection, Fiona Kane talks about celebrity influence and why it’s so easy to idolise influencers, actors, musicians and public figures without really questioning what they say.

From growing up influenced by music and movie stars to navigating today’s world of social media and online “experts”, Fiona reflects on how influencer culture shapes the way we think, spend, and make decisions.

She also explores how AI content, paid promotions, and online platforms have made it harder to tell who’s worth listening to and who simply sounds convincing.

This episode covers:

- why we idolise celebrities and influencers
- the risks of blindly following public figures
- how influencer culture shapes beliefs and behaviour
- the difference between expertise and popularity
- why some “gurus” aren’t what they seem
- how to think for yourself in a noisy online world

Fiona shares her own experiences of following well-known figures like Oprah Winfrey, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Meghan Markle, and how her perspective changed over time.

If you’ve ever questioned influencer advice or felt unsure about who to trust online, this episode offers a more grounded way to think through it.

Music by Josh from Pixabay

Outro: Music by Musinova from Pixabay

Learn more about booking a nutrition consultation with Fiona: https://informedhealth.com.au/

Learn more about Fiona's speaking and media services: https://fionakane.com.au/

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Credit for the music used in this podcast:

• Intro Music by Josh from Pixabay
• Outro Music by Musinova from Pixabay

Transcript

Welcome And The Idol Trap

Fiona Kane 0:13

Hello and welcome to the Wellness Connection. I'm your host, Fiona Kane. Today I'm going to be talking about how we idolise certain people, and it could be celebrities or it could be activists, it could be all different people, but how we idolise them and follow them, sometimes not always a good idea. So I'm just uh calling into question why we do that and if that's a really good idea. And look, I'm a really good example of this myself because as I've gotten older, I've you know, there's different people I followed, and different people I thought they were amazing, and then they've uncovered or shown themselves more and more, and I've been horrified and thought, how why did I think that that person was wise? Why did I think that person was wonderful? And I think it's important that we, you know, like it is okay to, you know, read books or watch podcasts, listen to podcasts, whatever, listen to different people or movies or art or whatever it is, and engage with the with the story, engage with the material and listen to whatever that person might be saying. That's great, not an issue there. The issue is when we just kind of assume that they're right just because they're a celebrity, or you know, and once upon a time it used to actually be that way because if someone had a microphone, you know, having a microphone meant that you were an expert and you would it was true, but these days everyone's potentially got a microphone, and anyone can jump on TikTok or whatever and be an expert. So uh even more so we've got to be careful, and um, and more so even now with AI. The amount of AI stories I see coming through on my feed on whether it be on Facebook or wherever it is, uh, is quite huge at the moment. And you'll see one story is like Mick Jagger said this, and then someone else, and I'll see three more stories exactly the same language, or different people have said it. So also be aware, there's a lot of fake stuff online at the moment as well. But yeah, look, I would say like when I was younger, when I was a teenager, I was really into music. So I was very, very influenced by musicians, and so a lot of my worldview came from what different musicians were saying, you know, which is fine and which is like was pretty normal, and and you know, that's okay. Obviously, artists and musicians, generally speaking, their worldview is usually much more on the left, on the left variety, which left used to sort of be somewhat normal back in the day, too, when it when it kind of just meant that you wanted a quality and fairness and things like that. Uh it's kind of a whole different story now, uh, what it's turned into. But anyway, yeah, so that that was where you know, but I used to think, you know, I used to really admire a lot of um pop stars and rock stars and things. And, you know, I learned a lot from them, but I also over time began to realize that they were just people as well, and they were just as fallible as anyone else. And you know, and then I really sort of I I was quite obsessed once upon a time, it was like the movie stars. And so the younger people these days probably don't understand it so much because now you've got all the influences and stuff, but movie stars used to be a big deal, they were really big deal, and um, and we were really interested in what they had to say. Well, not everyone, but many of us were really interested in what they had to say and and thought that they uh, you know, somehow again that this this person who is attractive and successful and living in his big mansion and has made it in life, uh, they've got something really wise to say, and look, sometimes they do, and sometimes they're you know idiots like Jane Fonda. You know, so um, so again, listen to what they say, but you don't have to follow it. I mean, you know, why we look at someone, say, like uh Gwyneth Paltrow, right? She's obviously been very successful, but she also she she grew up in a family of her both of her parents were successful actors. They were both elites in elite society. She grew up a completely elite life, not being touched by anything real, just this, you know, perfect life uh where she was pretty much given everything and taken everywhere. And I remember her telling the story of how her father took her to Paris, and um the reason he took her there was because you know, a woman's first experience of Paris should be with someone who unconditionally loves her or something along those lines. And I I honestly, like obviously part of me was really jealous of that because a lot of us have different stories when it comes to our relationships with our father or our father figures or whatever. But um, but you know, but that shows you how much in touch with reality she is, right? And you know, then she's now she's got this wellness blog, wellness brand, where she can advise you on what's the best way to manage your health. Now, she who has, you know, probably something along these lines, right? She has her yoga teacher turn up and do a class with her, that her maybe then her Pilates teacher, and then she has, I don't know, some green smoothie thing that her chef puts together for her, made from organic things grown in, you know, I don't know, some fancy place. She gets, you know, jetted in from wherever. And then, you know, then she kind of puts all of her organic skincare on and her makeup or whatever and goes to her goes to lunch with her girlfriends or whatever she does, you know. And, you know, I don't, it's just like that's what her life looks like, right? Now, I think a lot of us could um maybe be healthier if we sort of didn't really have to do any housework or do as she does anything, and we're able to have our staff come and do everything for us and make everything for us and make our food and put it in our hands and you know, and it's like pretending that she's doing it all, making it all sure, sure she is. You know, and then you know, Jen Anniston, she's like, she's whenever they interview her about you know how she stays looking so young, and she's always talking, she's always talking about staying hydrated. And while hydration is really important part of uh of staying young, it absolutely is. You know, they've all had surgeries of some kind or fillers or whatever they get done, and they go and get their you know,$5,000 laser pills and their the the this this uh you know the botulism injections and whatever it is, and look, good on them, great. If they can do that and it makes them happy and that makes them look young and they get a longer career, well, you know, fair enough. But why, you know, why should we be reading their stuff about this is how you look after your health and and like wondering why we can't compete and wondering why we can't do that? Um, I've noticed too more recently that um, you know, it was for a while there with in the celebrity culture, it was the fat acceptance movement and it was um and it was you know loving yourself as you are and and um and your every size is healthy, and and now suddenly anorexia is back again. Have you noticed that? Now they've now Azempic exists, um, and anorexia's come back in fashion. Uh just watch some of the red carpets if you don't believe me. Um look at some of the, you know, like uh what are the girls from um The Wicked Girls? That those two uh they both look skeletal. Uh and there's a lot of that going around at the moment. So why would we follow them seriously? Uh and you know, and don't forget that we do forget this, but actors, you know, like I think music musicians, at least for me, musicians often write their own music and they're sharing their their gift and they're sharing their message, and at least a lot of it well, once upon a time anyway, it came from them and it was their thoughts or it was their observations about the world. But actors are reading lines that someone wrote for them, right? They're getting paid to learn how to wrote learn something and say it back in a way that looks real, which is great, I can't do that. So good on them. And if they can make a career, career out of it, amazing. But they're not paid to be deep thinkers. Why do we think that they're deep thinkers and that they really, you know, so many of them obviously they are not, because now that the world, you know, once upon a time, movie stars didn't interview much, you didn't hear from them much, and they just do this occasional kind of like vogue interviews or whatever. But now, of course, with social media, a lot of them are just non-stop talking and like Mark Ruffalo or people like that. And you realize how stupid they all are because they actually start talking all of the time, right? So uh, so interestingly enough, uh, the one thing about social media and them all speaking and sharing their views is that you've realized we have realized that they're idiots. So uh, you know, I suppose in that way, if you actually listen to them or watch what they're saying, you kind of uh learn that they're all just human beings. And yeah, actors are probably not the bit the deep, always the deepest thinkers. Uh, they've got different skills, you know. Uh, but then there's the people who have uh marketed themselves as the deepest thinkers or as the spiritual types, and so that would include Oprah. I was such a sucker for Oprah. I grew up in the Oprah generation where we all just thought that everything she said was was so inspired and and so deep and and you know, and over time, just the more I hear her talk, and the more the things I see her promote and the things I see her talking about, and the the the amount of you know, one minute she's um she's you know making money off Weight Watches and doing the Weight Watchers thing, and then she's talking about fat acceptance, and then she's and then the Weight Watchers company that she had invested in, heavily invested in the GLP one uh the Ozempic type things, right? And so now she's you know written a book, well obviously Shadow, a Shadow, uh what do they call them? Shadow also, or I can't remember the name for it, anyway. Someone else wrote the book, but you know, about GLP ones and it's like she's making a hell of a lot of money out of it, you know. Uh I never fully understood how how much she was just about money and how much her she was good at playing the profound thing and the people that she's platformed on her show, because she like she platformed that weirdo guy, where was he? He was in South America somewhere, and he was some spiritual guru, and you know, turned out to be just some sort of widow that was um assaulting all of these women and using the spiritual guru thing as a way to suck them into his lair, whatever. Um, and she platformed him and and she never apologised for that either. So interestingly, she there's all these people over the years that she's platformed, and she's never come back and said, Oh, you know, that wasn't a good idea. Uh so I her judgment to me is I as I've just looked at really, really looked at her, oh, okay. And the other thing I found that when I used to be really into, you know, the Opras of the World and all of the other type, all of the people, the spiritual gurus that she has on the show and that she used to promote, you know, and the D Pak shopras of the world, uh, who was had some interesting stuff in the Epstein Files. And look, the Epstein Files I'm not going to go into a million people are doing that. That's not my thing. Um, in saying that though, and there are look, there are a lot of names in there that are just names because he was in amongst it all with all of the um all the celebrities and stuff. So I don't think every name in there is like evil and you must you know destroy that person. Uh, however, um some of the emails and some of the language and some of the conversations between people like D Prax Cho Chopra and uh and Epstein have uh revealed a lot about their real who they really are, and it's not nice stuff. Uh, you can go and Google it if you want to learn more about that. Uh, and it's really sort of um, and and even just as people who are talking about the you know what it was like on the inside and what and uh touring around with all of the spiritual people because I used to go and see all the Louise Hayes and the Wayne Dyes and the D Packs and stuff when they would tour. I was a real sucker for all of that, and you know, not saying that look, there's a lot of things where you get there's some value of stuff, like you can't sometimes in life we completely write things off. I think you can get value from a lot of things, and I think that sometimes you might get like an a little bit of an insight from that film and a little bit of an insight from that uh from that conversation with that person, a little bit of insight over there from maybe a movie that you saw, and then you'll get some other thing from some sort of spiritual leader or whatever. Look, that's fine. I think if we if we treat it all as information and we assess it all and then we create, well, we create what we decide what we believe or whatever. That's just one thing. But it's when you at least I wasn't kind of I wasn't following them around and spending thousands of dollars and going around the world and going to all the retreats and things. Although if I had had the money, maybe I you know, I probably would have. So who knows? Like I'd like to say I wouldn't have, but I probably would have if I had had the money to do something like that. And I think a lot of them, it's it's one of those things. They might have like one thing that they say that might be a bit profound, or they just re not even that, but they repackage something, they repackage an idea and have a way of saying something that's like sounds like it might be all right, or sounds like it might be. Yeah, no, it's they they have a way of repackaging or repurposing something maybe that someone else has said, but they have a way of saying it that makes it sound impressive. And that's a lot of what these people do. They're they're actually just really good at communicators, and they're really good at communicating an idea, maybe in a way that you haven't heard before. Just a moment. My phone wasn't on silent, it was distracting me. But yeah, so essentially these people are really good at just maybe repurposing an idea, repurposing a saying, they hear someone else saying it, but they can market it a bit better, or they have a different personality that can market it better, and that's what they do. And good on them, great, you know. But when I now listen back to some of the things, like again, some of these people have great sayings, but I've noticed that a lot of the um, a lot of the people that market themselves as, you know, spiritual and compassionate, and they use that kind of languaging around who they are, they do say things that kind of sound profound, but then when you really, really listen to it and you listen to it with a bit more of a just a bit more a bit less awe and a bit more kind of just listening to really like what are they saying? What are they saying of substance? You just notice that there's not really any substance there at all. So so many of them there's now when I go back and listen to what they say, I just all they do is waffle and and what they do is they they know all the key words to say to sound like they're being profound. If you want to see an example of this, uh just watch Meghan Markle when she when she's interviewed and when she talks. That woman, I don't think she has any unique uh thoughts. I think she just has uh buzzwords that she says and she knows how to say them in a way that makes it sound really profound, and she knows how to space things out and say it and the facial expressions and everything. But when you listen to what she actually said, she says nothing. And Oprah's really, really good at that. Um, the other one that I found, uh, you know, Liz Gilbert is really, really good at that. I was a really big fan of hers for a long time. And look, she is look, she's a great writer. I enjoy her books. Uh, but I think we have to see them, especially the one that she wrote, which was Eat, Pray, Love, the one about her life. I think we have to see them as more fiction than uh particularly that one. That one is more fiction than uh real life. Because so many women have gone and tried to do the eat, pray, love thing based on Liz Gilbert. And um, and I'm not saying that none of it was true, what she wrote in that book, but uh I I think that over time she has come to um she's come to talk more about who she really is, and she really is, and in her own words, someone who would see a married man and would want to take him from his wife just because she could. And she did, and she would do that. Uh very so I think she's a very destructive force. In her latest book, she talks about uh in great depth about how she wanted to basically kill her partner because her partner was um was uh terminally ill and very difficult to deal with at the end of their life. There they were this person was um this woman was I think her or an addict or I don't know, anyway, an addict of some kind and very, very difficult to deal with at the end of her life. I could only imagine, I'm sure she was, but she talks in great detail about how she wanted to kill her because it was all too hard. And look, I I kind of get that, but the way, anyway, the way she says it, the way that along with a lot of other things she says, makes me think that she is uh, you know, wolf in sheep's clothing, and um, and maybe she's just showing more that she's a wolf now, uh, and being more honest. And I think that a lot of these people do show themselves, so pay attention. So look at all the people that you thought that, you know, that and even if it's like now it might be podcasters, right? And I'm the same, look, I mean I love, I listen to so many podcasts, right? And I get really heartbroken when a podcaster I really love suddenly says something different, or something somebody says something that I don't agree with or don't like. And at least I admire that when podcasters have the guts to say something different because I think that sometimes what happens in the podcasting world is it's uh it's uh audience capture where people just keep feeding back to the audience what they want and they have success with it, so they keep doing it right. So I get that that happens. So it is good when podcasters do have the guts to say something different, but it has really taught me, you know, I could it'll be lovely to be able to kind of go, oh, I just listened to this person's podcast, and that's where I get all of my information and all of my belief about politics or spirituality or health or whatever it is, uh, and that will always be right. And then I don't have to think too hard or I don't have to go and research, but it's still not as simple as that. I would just say with everybody, just whatever whether it's your favorite podcaster, your favorite um political uh commentator, your favorite artist, your favorite actress, your favorite whoever, musician, whatever. I'm not saying don't listen to what they say. I think people can be really interesting, and I think that conversations are really important. So I'm all for let's have conversations, but don't just blindly believe that they're right just because you respect them. Because people can be wrong, and people there's all sorts of reasons why they might be wrong. One, a lot of these people are being paid to do what they do, and when you get paid to do things, uh you when you're paid for stuff, obviously, uh you know being paid for stuff makes you maybe change the way you do things, right? So we do know that. I'm not saying in every situation, but like if you but particularly if you're got if you've got sponsors or if you are uh you know, like Oprah situation with the GLP ones and the Weight Watchers and everything else like that, right? She when you've got big investments in companies that make a lot of money, of course you're gonna say the things that support that. And so just be aware that all podcasters who have a lot of success when they say things that are a bit uh over the top or or nasty or whatever it is, they get a lot of reward for that. And so then they keep doing that, right? So just be aware that a lot of financial reward and clicks and all the rest of it. So I suppose what I'd just like to go back to is saying, look, I suppose I've just shared here there's lots and lots of examples of over my lifetime people who I've admired or people who I've listened to who later on I've realized they're maybe not all that, or they're human and they're they're right about some things, not others. And um, and now it's it's influencers, and influencers are the most obvious because influencers, like I mean, the Instagram thing says it's like sponsored by whoever. So it's still that girls want to go out and do what they do and and buy the brands and that sort of thing. Um, I would just say be careful of who you listen to, or just listen to a wide variety of people and opinions, whatever it's in regards to, whether it's in regards to your health or uh your where you're spending your money, whether it's financial advice or whether it's about politics or whatever it's about. Be aware that it's a lot of fake stuff, be aware there's a lot of fake people, be aware there's a lot of vapid people who sound really profound, but they're just really not. And uh be aware that actors are just being paid to say lines. It doesn't necessarily mean they're hugely intelligent and have great insight. Some of them do, but it doesn't mean that they always do. Um, you know, musicians uh, you know, see the world from a certain point of view and they've got a great insight, but it doesn't mean they're right about it all either. So just be aware that just because people are famous or rich or or they've you know made it in some way or another, or that they've got a microphone, or that they've got a popular podcast, it doesn't always mean they're right. It doesn't always mean they're wrong either. But just question, you know, because I I I've questioned myself over the years and I I see, I see myself, I very easily like to kind of, oh yeah, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna be part of that team, you know. Um, I like that because I think I like the feeling of this, I think as human beings, we like that safe feeling of, oh. Oh, a safe, comfortable feeling of, oh, we know, we know what to believe and what to think because you know this this person we really admire thinks and believes the same thing. And while that's very comforting, it can be a real trap. And so it's allow yourself to be uncomfortable and kind of go, look, I really agree with that when she says that, but I don't agree with that. And that's okay. And it's and that's okay. It's okay to have that discomfort. Allow yourself to have that discomfort because if you don't, you might just get sucked down into uh something that's not that that's harmful for you. Anyway, I might leave it there. Um, you might want to give me some feedback and give me some examples of where maybe you've kind of followed people and then realized, oh, okay, that wasn't a good idea, or you've had too much trust in in someone who is famous. Uh, they're still just all human beings. They're we're all we we are all flawed human beings. Um, none of us have the perfect everything and perfect idea about everything, or all of the truth. None of us own the truth, right? So, um, so anyway, I just thought I would uh just in this world at the moment with ever all the things going on, just uh question where you learn things and be prepared to learn lots of different things and think for yourself and be prepared to be a bit uncomfortable. It's good to be uncomfortable. We do like to be in the comfortable place of being in on the right or in the you know, the people who are on the right side of history is what people like to say these days. Question that. Anyway, all right, hope you have a good week and uh like to have uh real conversations about things that matter here. Uh, please like, subscribe, share, and all of those things. Please rate and review. All of that really, really helps me get uh the word out there. Thank you. Talk to you later. Bye.