Every celebrity knows that the paparazzi can be your best friends or your worst enemies when it comes to living life in the glare of their camera lens.
But one thing is certain – they will shadow celebrities everywhere in public and will chase famous faces all over the globe to secure the best shots.
It takes some serious undercover guises – of which there have been many (Sydney Sweeney is currently sporting a brunette wig) - to keep the antics of the A-listers under the radar and, as we report, there have been many intimate moments that have slipped through the net .
And last week, the latest pap confession emerged when veteran photographer Mark Karloff revealed how he had photographed one very famous actress ‘stripping off all her clothes’ while taking a skinny dip with her boyfriend at the time in the sea off of LA’s hotspot, Venice Beach.
Of the coup, which happened a decade ago, Mark said on the Paparazzi Podcast, ‘She stripped off all of her clothes and went swimming in the ocean, then came out. I got shots of all that. The boyfriend was kind of freaking out, like, ‘What are you doing? What are you doing?’
Revealing that he then built up an element of ‘trust’ with the actress – who he revealed starred in the later version of teen drama 90210 – Mark added, ‘She came up to me and asked, ‘Did you get any of that?’ And I said ‘yeah’. She said, ‘Would you mind not putting that out?’ And I never did.’
However, other celebrities haven’t been so lucky, with these starkers stars either having been snapped skinny-dipping, or having saucily confessed to taking a dip in their birthday suits.
Justin Bieber
Never one to shy away from flashing his pants – even when on the golf course – Justin Bieber has been papped on not one, but two separate occasions going completely nude whilst on vacation.
In 2015, just two months before he started dating now-wife Hailey, the ‘Never Say Never’ singer, 31, was photographed completely starkers strolling by the pool of a luxury villa in Bora Bora while enjoying a trip with UK blogger Jayde Pierce.
But he wasn’t deterred when, just a year later, the pop prince - whilst on a break from Hailey and splashing out on a $10k a night mansion in Hawaii with model Sahara Ray - enjoyed yet another outing in his birthday suit. This time, he visited a picturesque waterfall, where he opted to cover his modesty with a pink flamingo dingy.
Camila Cabello
Shortly after her final split from Shawn Mendes back in 2023, Camila Cabello eased her heartbreak by jetting off to Puerto Rico, where she enjoyed a solo skinny dip under a picturesque waterfall.
Covering her modesty for social media with two blue butterflies, the ‘Shameless’ singer, 28, captioned her snaps in Spanish, roughly translating to, ‘You’re right, that’s fine, b**tard. I love you, PR. Now back to the studio with an album to finish.’.
Orlando Bloom
We may have fallen for Hollywood heartthrob Orlando Bloom, 48, when he first appeared very much robed as elf Legolas in the first Lord of the Rings, but it was his very much de-robed state that peaked fans interest back in 2016 when he was papped paddle boarding completely naked.
His fiancé Katy Perry has since revealed her amazement when the actor’s name trended, joking, ‘All of the sudden, he is number one trending on Twitter and I was like, ‘How?! How?’’
However, pregnant with their daughter Daisy at the time, Katy joked that Orlando’s…good looks were ‘Why I’m in this mess!’
Joanna Page
Wildlife watchers along the Welsh coastline may have been left pleasantly surprised last summer when they spotted the rare species that is Gavin and Stacey’s Joanna Page skinny dipping at 7am.
Later sharing a series of snaps from her thrilling, if not freezing, outing with a pal, Joanna, 48, wrote, ‘Skinny dipping in Solva 7am!’
And fans were quick to congratulate the star, with one writing, ‘I could never be that brave’ while another added, ‘Rather you than me. That looks CHILLING’.
Drew Barrymore
She may have been known for her ‘wild’ ways back in her days as a teen star in Hollywood, but even today, Drew Barrymore, 50, has confessed that there’s still a high chance fans could spot her skinny-dipping!
One guest on her The Drew Barrymore Show asked the Fever Pitch actress, ‘Have you ever been skinny dipping and what’s your story?’
Candid as ever, Drew quipped, ‘I mean, which time?’ before adding, 'A hotel pool – at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles – for about, you know, 15 years. And a great, midnight jump in the lake at Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire - my favourite lake in the world I think.’
Encouraging fans to take the plunge, Drew added, ‘ Birthday suit or bathing suit. If you see a body of water or rain coming down from the sky, just get in it – you’ll never regret it., you’ll always dry off pretty quickly and you’ll be transformed by a nature baptism.’
Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann and Kate Upton
The stars, who acted as love rivals in rom com The Other Woman back in 2014**,** have been sworn enemies on screen, but off-set, the trio have since confessed they are the best of pals.
So much so that Cameron Diaz, 52, Leslie Mann, 53, and Kate Upton, 33, often went skinny dipping with each other while filming in the Bahamas at sunset.
But, unlike some famous faces, they were quick to pull their clothes back on when the paparazzi arrived, with Kate confessing, ‘We went skinny dipping in the Bahamas. The next day they (paparazzi) came and we had to stop, which was a real joy kill.’
The model added, ‘Skinny dipping is the best thing ever, why wouldn't we go skinny dipping?’