Gwen Stefani sets the bar very high in a teeny polka

June beckons, bringing with it the annual three-month bonanza that is the great celebrity holiday getaway and its attendant ‘bikini-off’.

As the rest of us blink into the holiday sun, wondering whether we dare squeeze our pasty limbs into last year’s swimsuit, in celebrity land a summer holiday is the perfect opportunity to flaunt the results of that Dukan diet and rigorous daily workouts.

Already the bar has been set high by singer Gwen Stefani, who was pictured this week frolicking in a teeny tiny polka dot bikini on board her yacht in the South of France.

Hot on her heels was fellow singer LeAnn Rimes, honeymooning in Mexico in a sparkly rhinestone two-piece, flashing a stomach that you could iron your smalls on.The message is clear: ‘Beat this, fellow A-listers.’ It remains to be seen how Hollywood and the UK’s finest will live up to the challenge this season.

The rest of us, meanwhile, can only look on forlornly, as we pack our cover-up kaftans into our suitcases — hoping only for the odd unflattering celebrity holiday snap or two to cheer us up.