‘I’ve represented some evil witches from hell . . . ’
Agent to the stars lifts lid on hidden world of TV soaps
HER first book Thunder Girls was inspired by her experiences working behind the scenes at Top of the Pops.
And now author Melanie Blake is lifting the lid on life in the TV soap industry in her second novel.
Melanie had an Amazon number one bestseller with Thunder Girls, released in 2019, which was made into a sell-out theatre production starring Coronation Street star Beverley Callard and Loose Women panellist Coleen Nolan.
But the celebrity agent, manager and publicist says that if it wasn’t for the first national lockdown in March, she wouldn’t have penned her second book Ruthless Women, as she was ready to quit writing.
“I had given up. I was never happy with Thunder
Girls,” said Melanie.
“It never felt like my book.
“I had a number one book and I wondered if I was a one-hit wonder.
“Then I had this idea for a novel about a fictional soap.
“I woke up one night and that week I wrote for 16 hours a day. It was like I was in a trance.”
She added: “All the characters are so real and so vicious and there’s so much sex in it. It’s sex from the female perspective.
“It’s the anti-Fifty Shades of Grey and it’s really dirty.
“The women in my book would tie the men up.”
Melanie, who as a dyslexic, was told by a teacher at school ‘the only thing you’ll be writing are labels on factory boxes,’ says Ruthless Women, which this week stormed the Sunday Times best sellers list, does for TV what The Devil Wears Prada did for the world of fashion magazines.
The scandalous novel, which goes behind the scenes of the fictitious soap Falcon Bay, is based on two decades she spent working her way up from an extra on Coronation Street and EastEnders to becoming one of the nation’s most powerful TV agents. Melanie, originally from Stockport, says her book features ‘fabulous, feisty and foul’ women: “Some are b **** es, some are lovely, some are loyal, some are fragile.” She’s become the best of friends with many of her clients but doesn’t mince her words when it comes to others who she hasn’t remained so close to. “I’ve represented some evil witches from hell,” she said.
“Some I would happily go to their funerals. I would go wearing red in six inch heels, and they’re still in TV to this day.”
Melanie, who now lives in London, has represented some of the most famous faces on British TV, including Bev Callard, Michelle Collins, Sherrie Hewson and Amanda Barrie, Emmerdale icon Claire King and EastEnders stars Danniella Westbrook, Gillian Taylforth and Nadia Sawalha. There is no suggestion any of the women mentioned in the list above were difficult to work with. Asked what the reaction might be to the book by some clients she has represented, she said: “They’re all going to go mad. This is the first time that the lid has been lifted by someone still working in the business.” Melanie, 44, said: “I’ve gone from being the least powerful person to going upstairs to negotiate contracts,” she said.
“I’ve been in contract negotiations, hospitals, weddings and I’ve been in the building when they’ve been fired. I’ve seen it all.
● Ruthless Women by Melanie Blake, is published by Head of Zeus. It costs £12.99.