You are quite right that another notable person came along and, to buck the trend, decided it would be entertaining to watch "the help", and then the rest start

You are quite right that another notable person came along and, to buck the trend, decided it would be entertaining to watch "the help", and then the rest started to follow thinking that must be what is required to become notable. But it could have gone the other way. The first notable person could have recognized the entertainment, and the later notable person could have decided it was better to keep hidden. We don't know why the first one decided to go with hidden, and likely it was just a random choice.