Celeste Barber – Celestial Being

She's just finished a sell-out world tour, has nine million Instagram followers and her new TV show, Wellmania, launches in March. As Celeste Barber sets her sights on sending up the wellness industry, the comedian talks body-shaming, self-love and why her fans deserve to be seen

- By Alexandra Carlton

The first thing I want to tell Celeste Barber when her face pops up on Zoom for our marie claire interview is that Liv Healy, the character she plays in the upcoming Netflix comedy drama Wellmania, is me. “No, seriously, I think you stalked me,” I cry. “Liv is a food writer and that’s my main gig. She’s loud and she looks like a normal woman. And she’s interviewed Miranda Kerr repeatedly. She is me.”

Barber, bless her, is kind enough to indulge me, and agrees with a laugh that Liv certainly does seem like me. But she’s had plenty of practice. Having women of my generation – late 30s and above – telling her that she really, really gets them is something that happens to the New South Wales-based comedian and actor every day.

You could see it in the audience at the final shows of her recent sell-out Fine, Thanks stand-up tour, which finished at the Sydney Opera House after blazing across 53 cities in the US, Europe and Canada. Her encore performance on home soil was filled with women in their 30s, 40s, 50s and up – mums, sisters, best friends, dressed in nice frocks and comfy sneakers – who roared with relief and release at the jokes that spoke directly to their lives: motherhood, sex, mental health and having a tummy that hangs over your jeans.

You can see it in the comments on her Instagram, where her fans regularly post things like, “You’re in Baltimore – we should have a wine!” or “God I love your sense of humour, it matches mine!”