6 Famous people who had some seriously weird diets

Being in the public eye comes with a whole heap of pressure. With paparazzi and a ravenous public ready to savagely pick apart your every odd decision, it’s small wonder that the rich and famous often go stir crazy well before their time. If I had billions of people anxiously waiting to find out where I bought my toilet roll, I’d probably behave a bit weirdly too.

Celebrity eccentricity isn’t just limited to public appearances. For some reason, all that endless scrutiny seems to make people want to eat as many weird things as possible. It turns out that this has been going on for ages. Gathered from all over the world, here are six famous people who have had some seriously strange ideas about food.

1. Madonna

Apparently being a material girl takes a lot more work than you might think. When it comes to dieting, the Queen of Pop is almost religious in her do’s and don’ts. Totally eschewing normal foods like meat, wheat, eggs and dairy, Madge instead extols the virtues of “sea vegetables” in her strict macrobiotic diet. If eating like a sea cow is your thing, this could be the diet for you.

2. Elvis Presley

You’ll be hard pressed to find anyone who wasn’t literally in love with the King in the 50s and 60s. By the 70s, however, Elvis’ legendary moves were being hindered somewhat by his predilection for excessive dinners. His favourite snack, which he would often demand in the immediate aftermath of a show, was a monstrosity known as the “Fool’s Gold” – long baguette, peanut butter, grape jelly, banana and bacon all packed into one epic sandwich.

3. Winston Churchill

Beating the Germans is stressful work. Just ask Mexico after their recent efforts in Russia. While sportsman handle the heat through practise and professionalism, Britain’s legendary Second World War prime minister had a different attitude. Churchill started every morning with two breakfasts – one containing poached eggs, butter, jam, coffee, milk and cold meat, and the other grapefruit and sugar, orange squash and a whisky chaser. Hitler never stood a chance.

4. Marilyn Monroe

One of the most legendary movie stars of all time, Marilyn Monroe had an unorthodox attitude to eating. Allegedly starting every day with a glass of warm milk containing two raw, whipped egg yolks, Monroe enjoyed dinners of broiled lambs liver, accompanied by five carrots. She would then top the whole thing off with a hot fudge sundae.

5. Henry Ford

He may have helped transform the automobile industry, but we should all just be thankful that Henry Ford didn’t apply himself to the kitchen. According to sources close to Ford, years spent on the assembly line convinced him that the human body only needed minimal nutrients in order to function, convincing him to pursue a diet of weeds and grass that he would pull up from his back garden.

6. Beyonce

Maybe it’s because she is a literal walking goddess, but Beyonce seems to be capable of doing things that no normal human should be able to tolerate. Her most famously radical approach to food came in preparation for her role in 2006 hit film “Dream Girls”, where she went on a brutal 10-day master cleanse of nothing but lemon water and cayenne pepper. The implication of how she was surviving during the recording of “Lemonade” doesn’t bear thinking about.

For as long as people have been worried about their health, there have been weird theories about what you should eat. Whether it’s Keto or a juice cleanse, most of these at least exist within relative normality. As this collection proves however, when it comes to famous people, all bets are off.