There is an event from a few years ago that keeps coming to mind when I think about Hillary Scott and the subject that keeps coming up. Some people were watching CMT on TV with their family. She came on as Lady Antebellum. That very clear voice and the music were not the first things that people talked about; they talked about how Hillary Scott looked. How much weight she’d gained. What was going on with her body. The woman who was probably the emotional center of one of the biggest country music groups, and the conversation had turned into…
Author: Michael Martinez
In 1977, Ian Botham went to Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton with a broken foot, which was a very common injury. A young cricket player with a lot of drive who was already making a name for himself in the Somerset team. The last thing he thought would happen was that he would leave the hospital a very different person. But that’s exactly what took place. That ward had four boys. Kids. The doctor told Botham that he would be getting treatment for eight to ten weeks. He was apparently matter-of-fact in the way that doctors sometimes have to be.…
There is a small amount of unease in the thought of seeing your own serious illness on TV. This is not in a doctor’s office. Not because it hurts or there was a clear sign. Yes, it’s right there on the screen, staring back at you while you work. In December 2008, that’s exactly what happened to Clare Balding. It’s the kind of detail that stays with you long after you hear the story. Balding, who was in her late 30s at the time and was already well-known on the BBC, was looking at old videos of herself at the…
Something quietly striking about seeing a man who used to try to destroy his own image finally feel good about himself is amazing. In late October 2026, Gary Barlow went to London’s Dorian restaurant for a casual lunch. He wore a loose black sweater, tracksuit pants, and an Alo baseball cap. No beard. Not present on stage. Not tanned. Still, he looked different, or maybe it was because of all of that. So different that pictures of them went viral online in hours, bringing about the kinds of comments that famous people probably never get used to fully. Some of…
A certain type of internet phenomenon tends to follow women who become well-liked by a lot of people. The talk changes from what they’ve made to how they look at some point. This has happened to author, journalist, and “agony aunt” Dolly Alderton. She is likely the main reason why a generation of young British women buy paperbacks at airport WH Smith. You’ll notice something strange when you type her name into a search bar these days. People search for “Dolly Alderton weight gain” at the same time as her Sunday Times column, her memoir, and the BBC show based…
Sport only shows a certain kind of cruelty when things are going really well. On the weekend that Kimi Antonelli was supposed to make history, the 20-year-old Italian arrived at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez with a fever so high that he could barely keep food down. He was also trying very hard not to show any signs of it. His team, Mercedes, confirmed on Thursday that Antonelli had a viral illness that caused him to have a high fever and stomach problems. The FIA had also told him he didn’t have to do his required media duties. Formula 1…
It makes people feel uneasy when a familiar face comes back on TV looking completely different from how they looked before. Not older or tired, but really different. That’s what happened when the fifth season of Dexter aired and gave viewers their first full look at Detective Joey Quinn, played by Desmond Harrington. Something had changed, so the internet did what it always does: it started asking questions. Some of the questions were kind, some were mean, and very few of them were based on fact. Harrington joined Dexter in its third season as a cocky, morally flexible cop with…
Some kinds of strength don’t look good in pictures. It doesn’t get seen at award shows or in videos from behind the scenes. The sound of it can be heard in hospital waiting rooms, in the background, and in the way people hold themselves when they’re carrying something heavy and don’t want it to show. Mally Roncal, who is one of the biggest names in celebrity makeup, found that kind of strength to be very important. It was Mally’s job to make people look good, from Beyoncé on stage to regular women watching QVC at home. In the best way…