Why would a rich singer like Selena Gomez suffer malnutrition? Is this an admission of a disorder?
—Kirstin F., via Facebook
As much as I would love to assign some manner of disease to Selena Gomez (if one more person attributes her hospitalization to Bieber Fever I shall light my hair on fire) I can't. At least, not this week.
Instead, let me tell you a bit of a horror story, involving what a typical concert backstage looks like for a star:
Jo-Ann Geffen is going to help out, here. Geffen is both a veteran publicist and manager for musicians such as David Cassidy and the Commodores. She knows how tours go for even the most privileged artists. And, she says, you'd be surprised at how tough it can be for a musician to get a decent bite on the road.
Yes, by now we've all heard of those obnoxious riders that artists use to get their favorite foods delivered on tour. (Beyoncé, for example, reportedly has insisted upon "juicy baked chicken.")
But that doesn't mean that stars actually get to eat said foods, Geffen tells me.
Caterers generally lay out a large array of foods for the talent and backup band before a show. Often those spreads are quite healthy. However, "it's the band usually eats it. I don't know an artist who is going to eat a meal before going on stage. They may grab a light teeny something but that's it."
The star doesn't often get a chance at the buffet table after the show, either.
"There are meet-and-greets backstage, or sometimes they will immediately go into meetings with the band and management to go through improvements and fixes," Geffen explains. "There are a lot of demands on these artists. It's not wine and roses back there."
"If there's excessive fan enthusiasm, so to speak, the talent may have to get out of there quickly" before they can even think about the catering table," Geffen says.
What about later in the night? Well, that usually entails ordering in room service—i.e., ordering whatever the talent wants, not necessarily whatever she needs. In Gomez's case, the pop tart admits a weakness for junk.
"The problem is, I don't eat right," Gomez told KHMX radio. "Everything that is possibly not good for me...I love M&Ms, Kit-Kats, Snickers, Goobers at the movies."
This is all under the assumption that the talent eats at all.
"If she's too tired she might not even eat," Geffen explains. "Or she's too wired to eat from running and dancing. You get wired, you go back to your room and just kind of chill, go to sleep, get up and start all over the next day.
"Often you're traveling during the day and picking up McDonald's or something on the road," Geffen says. "It's just crap. That is why a lot of these artists pass out and get exhausted."
Now! Get more on Gomez and everybody else with a candy fixation in my latest podcast show!