How ‘Hello!’ has sailed through the stormy waters of celebrity

For 25 years the celeb magazine has chronicled the births, marriages and lovely homes of the stars — and it has changed the media’s agenda, says Vanessa Thorpe

SO MANY contracts have been signed and so many celebrity parties photographed since the first edition of Hello! went on sale in Britain 25 years ago, it is hard to pick out the most celebrated. Would it perhaps be the wedding of Paul and Sheryl Gascoigne in 1996, or perhaps one of Elton John’s regular white tie and tiara affairs? Only a few of the big ones, such as Madonna’s marriage to Guy Ritchie at Skibo castle in 2000, have eluded its pages.

Although Hello! is a key player in what is often dubbed ‘celebrity culture’, the magazine has always set itself apart from other, less established titles in the marketplace. From the beginning its tone has been supportive, not to say sugary, when it chronicles the births, marriages, divorces and health scares of some of the most famous people in the western world.