The Fame Addicts

On a leafy side street in West Hollywood you'll find the world's most secretive clinics. Cosmopolitan gets exclusive access to the first ever speciality treatment centre for fame addiction.

- George Stark

Tucked away in a corner at a Hollywood juicery favoured by the A-list, Erica* looks like any other celebrity customer trying to fly under the radar. She’s got the oversized sunglasses, her huge curls are scraped back and she’s dressed head-to-toe in black. On her feet are trainers so she can flee from the paparazzi and intrusive fans at any given moment.

The problem is that Erica isn’t famous – but she’d like to be. “I should be a celebrity by now,” the 28-year-old sighs when I tell her she reminds me of an A-lister going incognito.

She looks different to her pictures on Instagram, where she has more than 10k followers. Her public persona is more polished than she is in the flesh. “I do get recognised if I’m dressed up,” she says with a proud smile. “Somebody once asked for my picture thinking I was Natalie Portman.”

Like many of her Hollywood peers, Erica has tried her hand at everything in an attempt to become a celebrity – so much so that she now behaves like one. In addition to dabbling in acting, singing and modelling, last year she attempted to make her debut as a DJ on the showbiz party circuit in LA, following in the footsteps of one of her idols, Paris Hilton, who she went to school with. “I begged my friend who is a professional DJ to let me join in with him, I wanted to be the face of it all. But it didn’t quite pan out,” she grimaces.

Instead, the privileged LA resident is working as a social media influencer for a music company as she continues her search for fame. Her parents were previously bankrolling her quest but “that’s all stopped now”, she says, looking down. Using her social media presence for work can be an ego boost, but she says she won’t feel content until she’s “legit famous”.