Sir Elton John isn't a fan of Love Island celebrities who don't 'work for their stardom'

The singer doesn't like the word celebrity being bandied about
Unimpressed: Sir Elton John hit out at reality-made stars
AFP/Getty Images
Natasha Sporn17 May 2018
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Sir Elton John has hit out at reality stars who are propelled into the celebrity limelight after appearing on shows such as Love Island.

The music legend questioned the likes of Amber Davies, Kem Cetinay and Chris Hughes and criticised them for not “earning” their stardom.

John told George Ezra on his podcast: “The word celebrity didn't exist, you were either successful or not.

“Now the word celebrity, you can be somebody off Love Island, I don't know who they are.”

Stars: Chris Hughes and Kem Cetinay shot to fame on Love Island 2017
ITV

He continued: “For me, a celebrity is somebody who is top of their game, a top film star, in music, whatever. I hate the word 'celebrity'.

"You've got to work for it and the people that don't work for it and get it instantaneously are the ones that go pfft.”

Stars such as Cara De Le Hoyde, Olivia Buckland, Alex Bowen and Montana Brown have become well-known reality names after appearing on the ITV2 summer show over the years.

The show’s runaway success in 2017 makes it one of the most anticipated shows of 2018, expected to return next month.

However, John – who will close the door on his days on the road after one final tour – did have sympathy for the Love Island stars living in a world of modern technology.

Love Island Series 3 - in pictures

1/35

The Tiny Dancer singer explained: “I hate mobile phones and I hate camera phones. I don't go out anymore. In [the old] days there was nothing like that. When I started out there were no mobile phones, we had it so easy.

“You can afford to be out of your mind and behave extraordinary badly in public and nobody would be able to take a photograph, which I did many times.

"Unfortunately that's all changed with the advent of technology.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in