You probably remember the first time you came across Celeste Barber on Instagram. She might have been stumbling in slow motion down the beach in a barely-there black bikini à la Halle Berry or giving Kim Kardashian a run for her money in a shapewear-clad mirror selfie.
Her viral series, #celestechallengeaccepted, has brilliantly satirised the often outrageous posts of celebrities and influencers since 2015, making us all laugh and earning Barber an
impressive 9.6 million followers along the way.
But it’s the message of acceptance and lack of pretension behind the laughs – and her willingness to make herself the punchline – that has endeared her to so many. That message, as she wrote in an Instagram earlier this year, is: “You are excellent, exactly as you are.”
This year, Barber took that same approach into almost unknown territory: launching a beauty brand called Booie. “I wanted to create five products that can get you out the door,” she explained.
“I envisioned it for my sister, my mum, and my best mates: for women who don’t watch makeup tutorials, don’t have a ton of money to
spend, and love makeup. I wanted to make it easy.”
But she also hasn’t left her performance roots behind. In September, she starred in Runt, a feel-good flick set in the Australian outback about a struggling family that adopts a stray dog.
And when she’s not on set (other recent TV appearances include Wellmania, Colin from Accounts, and The Letdown), she’s touring her comedy show, Backup Dancer, across the
US, tackling classic Barber topics like freeing the nipple and dreaming of being a Janet Jackson backup dancer.
In the nine years since her start at Australia’s largest open-mic night, RAW Comedy, she has earned the title of national treasure and “Australian Queen of Comedy.” It’s hard to
imagine life without her, well, bloody everywhere.
marie claire’s 2024 Women of the Year Awards are presented by Swarovski and supported by Volvo, Max Mara, Revlon, Dr Lewinns and G.H. Mumm.
