Jack Averty: Thanking my lucky stars that I've not got celebrity status

Of course, the money is nice, having financial security and never having to fret about bills. I'm sure being able to provide for you and your family with no worries is a brilliantly fulfilling feeling.

Then obviously there is the job which, whether it's a professional sportsman, an actor, a musician or anything really that brings fame, is going to be slightly more enjoyable than working in an office.

Some of the perks celebrities get, the parties they get to go to and the people they hang out with is probably alright too. Sounds perfect, right? Loads of money, interesting jobs, being really popular and having a host of famous friends. I mean, who doesn't want to say Denzel Washington is their mate?

But what about the normal day-to-day life? I'm not talking about when you're at work, I'm talking about your daily trip to the shops or a stroll around the local park. If you have children then maybe a trip to their ballet class or to their Sunday league football match. Just, you know, normal stuff.

Sadly for these guys normal isn't a thing.

When you're a celebrity you can't just pop into Sainsbury's, or go for a stroll around a park, or rock up to your kid's football match, without being spotted and harassed.

Can you imagine every time you did your weekly shop, or even popped to the corner shop for that late night chocolate bar, you had people up in your face, asking for pictures, wanting to talk all about your life?

It would be so tiresome and you'd probably crave normality again. You'd just want to be able to do the things that seem so mundane now without intrusion and interference.

People will say well it is part of being famous and boo hoo we have no sympathy. But I do.

Of course being recognised and bothered comes with the territory, they do just need to deal with it because it cannot and will not stop. But you can't tell me having to face this on sometimes a daily basis is simple, and that celebs as a whole have it easy.

The celebs I have met since starting this job really got me thinking about the effect the status has on their life but more importantly their personality.

Last year I attended the Birmingham premiere for the hit BBC TV show Peaky Blinders and met Cillian Murphy.

I first properly saw him when he came into the cinema at the start of the screening to give a quick speech, before going off to address the audience in another screen.

He came back at the end of the episode for a Q&A. It was not just him on the panel, he was joined by creator Steven Knight and an executive producer, so he didn't have to field every question.

However, when he did his answers were blunt, fairly short, and in my opinion rude.

Towards the end I asked him about how he prepared to play the role of Tommy Shelby, a solid question which I'm sure he has been asked many times before.

His answer (paraphrasing): "Me and Steve hung out with some gypsies then I went to the gym and lifted s****."

People laughed, of course, but that was not his intention. He was so fed up and bored at this point he just couldn't be bothered to keep up the celebrity facade any longer. This is how he had prepared, no sugarcoating.

I was slightly taken aback by it and a little miffed. He would have given a normal answer to this question lots of other times, why not here and now with me?

I spoke to various people at the after-party and began to get a clearer picture.

Cillian and the cast had been doing the rounds across Europe promoting the event, meaning he'd been away from his wife and two sons for a while, and every night he was going over the same things again and again. 'Yes, it will be a great series' 'Yes, Stephen is a great director' 'Yes, I love playing Tommy'.

I know it's his job but can you really blame him for getting so fed up? The bloke just wants to go back to Ireland and see his family. He just wants to go home and be normal for a bit.

Meeting Cillian towards the very end of the night made me realise that I had got miffed earlier because he had given me an answer as Cillian Murphy, not a celebrity actor. He was hilarious and swore like a sailor.

I can't remember what we briefly talked about but I remember going home afterwards thinking that that was the real him.

Of course, he can't swear all the time but why can't he be like this normally? Why do people judge him if he doesn't conform to the stereotypical actor standards?

It was a great experience for me getting to briefly meet the real Cillian but what about all the other celebrities who keep the mask up and feel restrained in showing their real personalities?

Last week, I saw the new England cricket captain Joe Root at the Walsall campus of Wolverhampton University.

Before he took over the invisible armband he'd proven to be a cheeky lad, the kind of guy who gets nicknamed the Yorkshire Snipper for cutting holes in people's socks.

But none of this really shone through when I saw him up close. He was very careful, cautious and played everything with a straight bat (pun fully intended).

It was obvious that the weight of the captaincy was bothering him.

Even when he had some alone time away from the group with Black Country Olympic gymnast Kristian Thomas you could tell he was not fully being himself, that huge personality not shining through.

Of course this may change, it was his first public appearance after being announced captain just days earlier so he was bound to be overly cautious.

But on the whole celebrities should be allowed to show us who they really are and not get judged for it.

It's unfair to ask them to always meet a certain mould, because everyone is different.

How would you feel if you had to conform to the stereotype that your job suggests? As a journalist I would fail miserably, I don't even drink coffee.

If there was a test where you could put someone in the shoes of a celebrity for an extended period of time, most of us would crack. Celebs have it all, including life being hard. It's worth bearing in mind sometimes.

By Jack Averty