Stacey Solomon’s ‘rather insensitive’ photos have exposed an Instagram conundrum

We love seeing celebrities showing off their glamorous lives... right up until we don’t. As Stacey Solomon is criticised for posting about her holiday, Olivia Petter argues that we can’t get angry at stars for acting like stars

Too much? Stacey Solomon is given a peck on the cheek by her husband Joe Swash during a luxury holiday documented on her Instagram (Instagram/Stacey Solomon)

It’s a tough life, being rich and famous. You have more money than you know what to do with. You can get almost anything you want, for free, and at any time. And the worst part is that you’re not allowed to boast about any of it. That’s the current dilemma, at least, faced by Loose Women star Stacey Solomon, who was criticised this week for sharing photographs of herself and her family on their luxury holiday.

The TV presenter and former X Factor contestant was enjoying herself at a £3,000 per week resort in Antalya, Turkey, alongside her husband, Joe Swash, and her five children: Belle, five months, Rose, one, Rex, four, Leighton, 11, and Zachary, 15. Solomon shared several fairly innocuous snaps with her 5.7 million followers, including one of her and her brood on the plane and some other shots of the family eating together, relaxing by the beach, and swimming in the pool.

In other words, these were fairly standard holiday photos. And yet, her followers were not happy about them. In fact, they were very angry. “Sorry Stacy but an average family could not afford this hotel you are very lucky to be able to afford this [sic],” commented one person. Another argued that the photos went against Solomon’s “brand”: “I don’t begrudge them a holiday at all. But the whole thing is deceitful and tone-deaf... in my opinion,” they wrote. Others agreed that, amid the cost of living crisis, the post was “rather insensitive”.