Press-gagged: The rise of the celeb super-injunction

'Thown to the lions'... Imogen Thomas

They've got millions in the bank, lavish mansions, invitations to the hottest parties in town and walk-in wardrobes stuffed with designer clothes. They drive Aston Martins, spend their summers holidaying on super yachts and jet first class all over the world. There's nothing the rich and famous can't buy. Including, it seems, justice.

If the latest spate of super-injunctions are anything to go by, the rich and powerful have now become untouchable. An elite few who can afford to hire in top lawyers to do their dirty work for them; and cover up their even dirtier secrets. 

These gagging orders prevent the media from publishing a story about a celeb's private life, even stopping them from reporting the fact an injunction has been taken out. The result? A relieved celeb, a frustrated editor and a clear violation of free speech. 

Exposed... John Terry had his super-injunction lifted

The UK's privacy laws may state that everyone is entitled to a private and family life. But doesn't it also state the right to freedom of expression? Celebs and the super-rich are more than happy to grace the front pages when it suits them and when there's a product to plug, but they also need to accept that the media is a double-edged sword. With the smooth must come the rough. And the more famous they are, the more determined the editors will be to expose them if they behave badly.

The problem with the modern celebrity is they want their cake and eat it. But there's quite a few slices in that cake and some will undoubtably taste nasty. After all, they live lives of luxury and bankroll the kind of cash most of us could only ever dream of. And if the public is paying their monster mortgage by buying tickets to their concerts or football matches, their books, their music, their annual calendar, their fashion line and their eau de toilette, aren't they entitled to know their favourite celeb is actually a bit of a dirty dog? I think so. It is in the public interest. 

Journo Andrew Marr's super-injunction caused outrage

But what's most concerning is the fact the rich and powerful seem to be above the law. For years, singers and film stars have been given lenient sentences or poxy fines for serious crimes and misdemeanors. Footballers appearing in court for drink driving their supercars are given nothing more than a £500 fine and a slap on the wrist and George Michael's recent drug driving debacle resulted in a eight week sentence; only four of which were actually served behind bars. 

Not to mention the celebs who can't enter a club without their nosebags full of coke - which they make no attempt to conceal, yet it always goes seemingly unnoticed by the police patrolling nearby. 

But what about the vast majority who can't afford to buy anonymity? If an average Joe commits a crime, they have to put up with the crap that comes with it - including being plastered over the front pages of newspapers before they've even been convicted of any wrongdoing. And poor Imogen Thomas, recently revealed to have had an affair with a married footballer, has, in her words, been 'thrown to the lions' while her cowardly ex-lover enjoys anonymity simply because he can afford to pay for it. Why should she be labelled a trollop while he sits smugly at home with his poor, unsuspecting wife?

Grin and bear it... Wayne and Coleen rode out the media storm

For a country with a supposedly fair 'justice' system, this is a disgrace. No one should be above the law. As the age-old saying goes: you've made your bed and you can lie in it. And if the rich and famous don't want their reputations dragged through the mud, they really should learn to keep their pants on.

Once a cheater always a cheater?

Happier times ... is it all over for Wayne and Coleen?

Celebrity love rats sem to have become all the more common in recent years. These butter-wouldn't -melt stars used to be able to preserve their squeaky clean images relatively easily with the help of a good publicist, but these days even Max Clifford would struggle to keep their bad behaviour under wraps. Ever since exposés and zoom lenses became tabloid favourites, it was only a matter of time before cheating celebs were exposed to the world.

Catching a philandering husband red-handed has to be every woman's worst nightmare. Finding out about his antics from the front page of the News of the World is something else entirely.

Whilst 99% of betrayed wives are able to come to terms with their marriage breakdown in private, the other 1% have no choice but to suffer in the public eye, under the watchful gaze of the papparazzi camping outside their multi-million pound mansions.

First it happened to Posh. Then Sienna. Closely followed by Cheryl Cole, Elin Nordegren, Toni Terry and Abbey Clancy. Now Coleen Rooney is the latest wife at the centre of a media frenzy surrounding her marriage...and her husband Wayne's roving eye.

From an outsider's perspective, these women are invincible. It seems they have it all - bikini bodies to die for, millions in the bank, perfect relationships, a jetset lifestyle and all the Mulberrys money can buy.

But despite their beauty and wealth, they are just like the rest of us. Their men cheat. And these blokes aren't just average Joes, but superstars with everything to lose. It's a sad state of affairs when, even at the risk of losing their families, their lucrative sponsorship deals and their carefully crafted public image, men will always put their penis first.

There's nothing us Brits love more than a very public celebrity downfall. We, of course, help to raise their profiles in the first place by forking out for glossy magazines with exclusive wedding pictures and buying the latest z-list eau-de-toilettes. Yet when it comes to the extra-marital affairs, we all relish in the drama whilst retaining zero sympathy.

With the exception of Posh and Cheryl who made their cash long before they met their hubbies, the rest of the wives are seen as gold-digging wags who simply use their husbands as a golden ticket to a life of luxury. After all, aren't the women who go on the hunt to bag themselves a rich sportsman as bad as the men who cheat on them?

But whatever happened to love? In our money-obsessed, consumer-driven, publicity-hungry world, it's hard to believe that a couple might just be together because they love one another. Which is the case, I believe, for Wayne and Coleen. The evident problem is that Wayne can't keep it in his pants for longer than five minutes.

So will Coleen do an Abbey and stay, or a Cheryl and run for the hills? There's only so much humiliation a self-respecting woman can take, and Coleen has had her fair share with Wayne. After all, who can forget the tabloid headlines when he was caught in the act with a grandmother nicknamed 'the auld slapper'?

The pressure any woman faces to leave when their man does the dirty is immense, but for celebs this pressure is even greater. Life under the media microscope is tough and they are damned if they do and equally damned if they don't.

But the question is, can a leopard ever change his spots?