Guilty Pleasures

I have a guilty secret that I have been hiding. Only my close friends and family know and they are ashamed of me. But I feel like now is the time to come clean, to confess and tell the world that I am obsessed by Made in Chelsea. I am not proud of this and I know my family don’t approve. It is most definitely a guilty pleasure but I have decided to hide it no longer.

Okay so as far as secrets go it’s not exactly scandalous; I don’t have a gambling habit, I drink responsibly (ahem) and it’s not taking over my life to the point I can’t function but even so I watched the first few seasons in secret. Unprepared to admit I watched it religiously, if the topic came up I’d reply that I’d “maybe caught an episode or two”. I was right to be cautious; when I did sheepishly admit to my family “actually I quite like it” I was meet with disapproving looks, head shakes and comments like “oh you don’t watch that do you?”.

A part of me agrees with them; the part that hates cheesy romance films and will turn the radio off rather than listen to a One Direction song. But as much as I tried to pretend I was only watching it because there was nothing else on, I knew it wasn’t true. It’s not even like I am fan of the reality TV genre in general. I never watched the Hills and I can’t stand The Only Way is Essex but something about Made in Chelsea keeps me hooked. Every withering look that Lucy gives or girl that Jamie says he is in love with, you can bet I will be watching. I’m not pretending to believe that the show isn’t “set up for our entertainment” but I can’t stop finding myself drawn in to all the drama. For one hour on a Monday night I can forget about work, bills and everything else on my to do list and just enjoy a world of IT bags and glossy hair dos where all you have to worry about is keeping Spencer Matthews away from your new girlfriend.

I decided to ‘fess up’ as I think it’s time we stopped feeling guilty about our guilty pleasures and just embraced them. It’s not hurting anyone and as long as I don’t watch it with my husband in the room then it’s not bothering anyone either. Even better, once I started confessing I found other people who too had been secretly watching and finally had someone to shame all the juicy MIC gossip with.

Whether you are a fan of an embarrassing band, can’t help but love to The Voice or even are addicted to the 10p machines at the coast it’s time to stop hiding. The new season is coming soon and I will be proudly watching…as long as my husband isn’t in the room.

Since I’ve confessed I ask the Semple girls to tell me their guilty pleasures too:

Sophie –

“My guilty pleasure is my label maker! I got it for Christmas and it has changed my life. I will label everything and anything – organisation is my vice.”

Jenna –

“My guilty pleasure is Steven Tyler (Aerosmith’s frontman) it’s a combination of the fact I love his music and he is just so damn cool. If Steven asked me on a date it would make my life.”

Jessica – 

“My guilty pleasure is Katy Perry, I watched a documentary about her and have loved her ever since!”

By Samantha Vandersteen