IT’S very easy to use famous people as role models and unconditionally accept their outward looks and achievements as being the way to go.

Certainly, many young people are seduced by the lifestyle of the current rich and famous who appear accessible through social media, making their lifestyles look equally achievable.

Unfortunately, this can make them unrealistic and limit their life expectations and career choices. In fairness, it can sometimes spur them on and there are some positive role models out there.

Nor is it just the young, though, who make the mistake of accepting everything they see on TV, in films or online as being real. It’s very easy for older women to be jealous of actress Helen Mirren’s seemingly flawless skin and good looks in her 70s without bearing in mind that she has not had children or money worries in her life to keep her looking that good.

Similarly with younger women after having a baby. Only last week, model and TV presenter Abbey Clancy was pictured looking gorgeous, lithe and back to her pre-baby weight just three weeks after having her third child.

For most women, this is definitely an unrealistic achievement. Baby weight, a tough domestic routine and lack of sleep mean most new mums still look slightly overweight and often worn out.

There are naturally exceptions but to hold up Abbey – the wife of a footballer and with a cosseted lifestyle (and maybe lucky enough to be naturally slim) – as “the norm” is a big mistake that puts ordinary women under huge pressure.

Celebrities these days do appear to have charmed lives but, behind the scenes, things may well be very different. The One Show presenter Alex Jones, back at work just three months after having her first child, now says she feels she went back to work too soon and this has shattered her confidence.

She had to switch from breastfeeding and she admits she put a lot of pressure on herself. She still feels “jealous” of her nanny who experiences moments with their son that she and her husband miss.

Our reality TV world today, reinforced by social media, means that everyone wants to appear to have an incredible existence. But life really isn’t like that. There are problems to be faced and just because we don’t see them doesn’t mean they aren’t there. A dose of reality is needed all round.