There’s no room for jade eggs or pseudoscience in Goop’s Netflix show

It’s hard to remember life before Goop. A life when eating pizza was considered ‘clean’, as long as you hadn’t dropped it on the floor. A life when the general population was blissfully unaware of jade eggs. A life before site founder Gwyneth Paltrow confessed she would “rather smoke crack than eat cheese from a tin” (a comment she has since clarified by explaining that “spray cheese is not my kind of party”).

Despite all of the above, Goop seems to be paying off. Last year, the wellness brand was valued at $250m (£193.4m). Followers pay as much as $4,500 (£3,482) for a weekend at the Goop wellness summits, which include “restorative workshops and classes” alongside as many B12 shots as you can handle. Forget spray cheese, this is the kind of party you can expect from Gwyneth.

Now Netflix is banking on the brand attracting more than a few wellness enthusiasts with $4,500 to spare. For it has reportedly signed a deal to create a Goop documentary series hosted by Gwyneth and the site’s chief content officer Elise Loehnen. Little is known about the planned format, other than it is likely to feature doctors, researchers and alternative health practitioners – presumably offering tips on following the Goop brand of ‘wellness’.

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The idea sounds a little out there. Not least because Paltrow has been criticised heavily for making pseudoscientific claims. But mainly because there is only so much entertainment you can derive from watching someone wax lyrical about chia seeds. (See Gwyneth’s video with Jon Favreau, in which she follows up his recipe for a cubano sandwich filled with cheese and joy with a sad-looking ‘vegannaise’-filled healthy alternative that makes you question life.)

Still, it may not be as mad as it seems. Because, for all the derision Goop has suffered, its podcast attracts hundreds of thousands of listeners per week – suggesting the concept is more mainstream than perceived. And for every madcap suggestion, there is another that actually sounds borderline normal. Goop’s piece on vegan breakfasts, for example, would chime with the growing number of consumers trying out plant-based food. Its how-to article on making the ‘perfect bone broth’, again, could find a wider audience – after all, Whole Foods deemed bone broth a big enough trend to open a specialist bar in one of its stores.

If Goop’s Netflix debut can stick to more relatable tips such as these, it may well find an audience among today’s increasingly health-conscious crowd. The idea of wellness, after all, is no longer confined to an elite. Young people in particular are open to the idea of an almond milk smoothie or turmeric bone broth here and there.

But if Gwyneth goes, well, full Gwyneth – it could just be another kale-filled recipe for mockery.