Influencers Struggle To Justify Trips Away As Followers Turn On Them

We all know the drill by now: wear a mask, work from home if you can and avoid unnecessary travel. So why are our Instagram feeds filled with people doing the opposite?

When Boris Johnson announced the third national lockdown earlier this month, most Brits prepared to hunker down at home in a bid to help stem the spread of coronavirus.

With little else to do but watch Netflix and scroll social media, it would have been hard to miss the fact that dozens of influencers seemed to be living under different rules entirely; ones which allow them to travel far and wide to avoid watching the dreary British Winter unfold from our windows.

Check out The Only Way Is Essex star James Lock discuss his travels below:

Alongside Lock, Love Islanders Anton Danyluk and Gabby Allen, and Geordie Shore’s Chloe Ferry, Sophie Kasaei, and Bethan Kershaw are among those who have travelled to the United Arab Emirates in the midst of the pandemic, despite the fact the government advises against all non-essential international travel.

Where pictures taken from hotel balconies, poolsides and fancy restaurants might have usually been met with likes and envy, now influencers are finding themselves targets of criticism from those accusing them of flouting the rules.

Travel rules enforced in November stated that travel was permitted for ‘essential work trips’, so in an effort to justify their luxurious-looking trips many influencers now appear to be going out of their way to make their glamorous lives look like a hard slog.

Danyluk, who has been living a lockdown-free life in Dubai since early December, made clear that his time wasn’t just spent out for meals and smoking shisha in pools as his photos might suggest; he posted a video of his laptop with a view of the skyline behind it, writing, ‘love my office view’.

TOWIE’s Lock, who is in the UAE with his girlfriend Yazmin Oukhellou, assured his Instagram followers the pair were ‘working away’, adding: ‘Despite what you may think we are still grafting.’ He backed up his claims by posting at least two images of his laptop with graphs on display, though it wasn’t long before he was back enjoying a drink in the sun.

Oukhellou previously defended the trip by saying it was for an unavoidable product launch, stressing: ‘We are here for work purposes, for business. Obviously we’ll make the most of it while we’re here as well,’ The Guardian reports.

Ferry, Kasaei, and Kershaw said the Dubai apartment they were staying in had a room devoted to producing sponsored content, while Allen told her followers that her boyfriend’s business is based in Dubai.

Love Island star Olivia Attwood, who remains at her home in Manchester, has hit out at those travelling abroad, pointing out: ‘There is a difference between being able to earn money wherever you are, and being there for work.’

Following an increase in coronavirus cases, the UK has announced that the UAE would be removed from its travel corridor list, meaning Brits returning home will now face 10 days in isolation.

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