Since I became a showbiz journalist 18 months ago, I have regularly rubbed shoulders with A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Kylie Minogue and Naomi Campbell.
And many friends ask what shocks me most about the celebrities I meet – their diva demands? Their fuss-potting over photo shoots? Their insistence on turning up three hours late?
In fact, it’s none of the above. What surprises me more than anything else is the fact that nobody eats… and I mean nobody.
Most of the events I attend are held in the evening, which means I go straight from the office after frantically swapping my trainers for high heels. It also means I don’t usually have time to pick up anything for dinner.
But as the vast majority of events are hosted by some of London’s best hotels and restaurants, I am generally guaranteed ‘drinks, something to eat and entertainment’. Sounds like a good night to me.
You’re almost always greeted by someone offering you a glass of bubbles and, once inside, I usually do the rounds to see if I can spot anyone I know or introduce myself to someone new. Then, at some point – about an hour or so in – waiters start flying out the kitchen armed with trays of food.
One of the delicious platters on offer at a celebrity event that MOLLY CLAYTON attended – which she says the stars refused to even have a nibble of
MOLLY CLAYTON recalls that the most dramatic example of food-dodging she’s seen involved one influencer biting into a cake – before spitting it out into a flowerpot behind
Food, for me, has always been at the centre of socialising, whether it be trying a new restaurant with friends, cooking with my partner or sitting down for a Sunday roast with my family. At these events, however, it’s quite the opposite.
Serving staff ferry delicacies around – but everyone just glances at them, smiling to express how nice the food looks and perhaps ask what’s on offer. And then, almost in unison, they say: ‘Thank you, but no thank you.’
The most dramatic example of food-dodging I’ve seen was at a rooftop summer party to promote a new brand of something-or-other when an influencer posed for a photo by biting into a small cupcake.
After the snap had been taken, she turned round and spat the mouthful out into a flowerpot behind.
The bite would have been no more than 50 delicious calories – but it was clearly too much for the skinny individual concerned.
Another celebrity event I last week attended at a swanky Mayfair hotel had an open kitchen with about ten chefs catering for 300 guests.
With shrimp tacos, bao buns and even a tiramisu station, it sounded like the perfect three-course meal. Yet, as waiters took these appetising canapes from group to group, few broke away from sipping their champagne for long enough to sample them.
Standing in a huddle of seven, I watched as every person politely declined the mouthwatering fare. I, naturally, felt I had to do the same.
Many A-listers believe it to be basically impossible to eat in a dignified manner. Here, Brad Pitt tucks into a pizza at the Oscars in 2014
But it’s not just down to peer-pressure. The truth is that I feel awkward trying to eat something that’s larger than a mouthful, but smaller than a bowlful, while simultaneously trying to hold a conversation – especially when no one else is doing the same.
Some might argue it’s the faff of actually eating a canape, and not the calories involved, that puts these celebs off. With a drink in one hand and an oversized treat in the other, it’s basically impossible to eat in a dignified manner – and God forbid a camera catches you shoving it into your mouth.
A source who works at A-list events tells me: ‘It’s a nightmare – no one eats anything. We hosted a celebrity breakfast the other morning and all the food got brought back because it was going to be wasted. It’s always the celebrities. Blame Ozempic.’
After all, there is a star-studded roll call of women who have admitted to taking the weight-loss drug, from Oprah Winfrey to Sharon Osbourne.
Another informer says: ‘I think it’s just such an industry problem – we are surrounded constantly by amazing food and no one eats anything. Instead they take photos of it.
‘We do body-positive campaigns and events all the time but people still openly talk about being skinny.’
As a woman, weight and body image is something I don’t ever go a day without thinking about.
I try my best to encourage myself to adopt healthy eating habits, but I find it incredibly hard to stick to them when surrounded by stick-thin models who would even turn their noses up at a cucumber sandwich finger.
It was 16 years ago that Kate Moss famously claimed: ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.’ It’s a motto that clearly lives on among the current generation.
