Steven Bartlett has been mocked by his own celebrity peers for promoting the ‘optimisation’ trend, after telling podcast viewers that having two glasses of wine ‘ruined his life for three days.’
The Dragon’s Den star, 33, is no stranger to whipping up controversy on his Diary of a CEO podcast, with past episodes such as those which explored declining birth rates and nutrition raising eyebrows.
However, it’s Bartlett’s own anecdote about indulging in two glasses of wine that has caused the latest stir and even had celebrities weighing in.
‘I had a couple of glasses of wine, didn’t get drunk, it ruined three days of my life because of the domino effect that it caused,’ Steven explained in a recent episode.
‘It meant that I got worse sleep that night, I ate more poorly the next day because my dopamine system or the cortisol system or whatever was all messed up. Then I podcasted worse and I didn’t go to the gym the day after and I could track all of this on my Whoop, hashtag ad, hashtag sponsor, investor… whatever.’
It has sparked a debate about the ‘optimisation movement’ which promotes the use of data, science and technology to improve productivity and health. Or, as some would argue, encouraging a joyless lifestyle.
BBC Radio 1 presenter Greg James, who has been vocal about Bartlett’s podcast in the past, called on his Instagram followers to ‘join [his] anti-optimisation/Bartlett cult TODAY!’
James, 40, acknowledged that while there are clear positives to cutting out alcohol, he doesn’t agree with monitoring everything so minutely that it deprives people of casual enjoyment.
‘So I’ve sort of been railing against this for years. Not the alcohol thing, fair enough if you want to give up alcohol, it can ruin lives, got that – that’s not what my issue is,’ the radio presenter said in an Instagram video. ‘My issue is this endless optimisation and measuring of everything to the point where it starts to make you feel a bit miserable if you don’t quite hit your own targets.’
James then held up his own book, titled All The Best For The Future, and announced he would be selling it for 99p for one day.
‘Essentially this is the anti-Bartlett,’ he declared.
‘You can have ambitions and goals and get good at a skill and do well in your life professionally and also have a great time. Not everything has to be like work; you can be on and then you can be off. And this is a reminder to go and have a nice time! Go and see your friends, do a nice trip, call your mum. Do something just for you,’ he added, signing off stating that that ‘optimisation is killing fun.’
Many of James’ celebrity followers supported his view in the comments, with singer Paloma Faith replying: ‘You mean you don’t have to be a nit picking, hyper critical psychopath to succeed ?’
Presenter Fearne Cotton quipped: ‘I genuinely sometimes podcast better on a hang over,’ while DJ Yasmin Evans wrote: ‘Optimising a life that you’re not living. Bonkers.’
Echoing the sentiments of many others in the comments, rapper Example stated that he prefers to ‘live in the moment and get on with it.’
TV star Julia Bradbury spoke from her experience of dealing with health issues and weighed in: ‘Agreed. As someone who’s written books about this, at the end of the day it’s about progress not perfection, and fun. I had cancer. Grateful for every day. I track on days I want to achieve some goals and go on instincts the rest of the time. Interesting thought, that the wine had such an impact on him – and alcohol is something I’ve given up. Reduces my risk of recurrence, and I’ve danced on a few tables in my time.’
Last year, Bartlett opened up about his decision to quit drinking alcohol and said that noticing the difference in his heart rate after he went sober was an eye-opening experience.
‘Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m obsessed with the data and the data never lies,’ he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
‘When I stopped drinking, I saw through the data that my increased performance came directly from cutting out alcohol.’
The NHS states that there is no completely safe level of drinking alcohol, but that consuming no more than 14 units a week helps to minimise health risks.
Metro has reached out to Steven Bartlett’s reps for comment.
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