What always surprises me with these stories is how grim and old the people look. There's nothing wrong with looking your age but it's sad that these people are so weary and hardened by life that they look 60 and are actually in their 20's.
Also the alarming number of young adults with numerous missing teeth. I'm genuinely not saying that to mock them, but I get the impression that a lot of their 'subjects' are possibly not the best educated or the most able to look after themselves - personally, physically, mentally - and make wise decisions. A lot of them actually seem quite vulnerable and child-like in their outlook and, I believe, exploited by the magazines for profit.
£500 or whatever upfront seems like an absolute fortune to people who are struggling, but, depending on the subject matter and the knowledge that it will be sensationalised, most of us would not deem it worth selling our reputations and possible future employment opportunities for if we could possibly find another way.
It might sound like quite a reach, but I can see some parallels with prostitution, where the poor and desperate will grasp at whatever opportunities for money they can, to keep the wolf from the door, and then have a lifetime to regret it. I definitely think that many lack the ability to understand that it's often like a modern-day lunatic asylum and, rather than empathising or admiring them, millions of people will just be laughing and jeering at them.
Don't misunderstand me: I always used to enjoy the absurdity of the situations and justifiably laughing at the woeful cliched editorial standards - as well as the genuinely nasty and lifestyle criminal sort - but it got to a point where I started to feel very uncomfortable indeed at what was frequently little more than bear-baiting of the underprivileged.