Celeste Barber might not be a household name, but chances are most Kiwis have not just seen her on social media – they’ve probably laughed until they’ve cried.
It’s hard to forget her: she’s the cheeky, very normalsized Australian poking fun at the unrealistic images that models and celebrities put out into the world every day to grab our attention… and maybe make us feel just a little bit jealous?
Her first post to go viral was a 2015 parody of Kim Kardashian, splayed on a mound of dirt wearing nothing but flimsy lingerie, fishnets and stilettos.
Send-ups of A-listers from Serena Williams to Jennifer Lopez followed – all so very funny that mother-of-two Celeste now has 9.4 million followers, including the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Drew Barrymore and Cindy Crawford.
The photos she pokes fun at, she says, are the kinds of images that give women the message if they weren’t “super-duper hot from birth then step aside”.
But, she adds, “I found my audience and I think they’re kind of sick of stepping aside…”
Celeste capitalised on her social media fame by going on a stand-up comedy tour across 53 cities in the US, Europe and Canada.
Now the actress, who played paramedic Bree Matthews in Aussie TV drama All Saints in the late noughties, has returned to her acting roots in the Netflix dramedy Wellmania.
This story is from the May 26, 2023 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
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This story is from the May 26, 2023 edition of New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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