MELANIE BLAKE
BEST-SELLING AUTHOR AND TALENT AGENT MELANIE BLAKE INVITES US INTO HER GORGEOUS HOME TO CHAT ABOUT SOAP STAR PRIMA DONNAS, FAMOUS SIBLING SPATS AND HER CONNECTION TO HOLLYWOOD ROYALTY
It’s been exactly a year since the release of Melanie Blake’s debut novel The Thunder Girls, a gripping tale of rivalry and scandal during the reunion of a chart-topping 80s girl group. The book’s success and its subsequent theatre production, starring Coleen Nolan, saw Melanie step into the spotlight herself after decades in the background as a talent agent to some of the UK’S biggest stars.
While in lockdown at her spectacular North London home, Melanie has put the final touches to her hotly anticipated follow up, Ruthless Women. Due out in
February, it centres around a TV soap opera and is full of “revenge mad divas”. With a client list of famous actresses signed to Melanie’s agency, the temptation for readers to second guess who her characters are based on will be too juicy to resist!
Melanie knows all about behind-the-scenes spectacles having become publicly embroiled in a spat between Loose Women’s Nadia Sawalha and her sister last year. After coming out in support of Absolutely Fabulous star Julia on Twitter, Melanie was shocked to see her online message splashed all over the national press.
Next year, The Thunder Girls theatre production will tour the UK, with Coronation Street ’s Beverley Callard joining the cast. It’s a dream come true for Melanie. “Having been homeless as a teenager and arriving in London with no money or contacts, making it to the top of the entertainment industry was no easy feat. Looking back now, I sometimes wonder how I managed to achieve it,” she says. Keen to share the spoils of her hard work, she’s even donating one of her new £1,200 designer handbags to a lucky OK! reader – someone who truly deserves a treat after the challenges of lockdown, but more about that later.
Here, Melanie, 42, opens up about the fragile nature of showbiz relationships, her memento from former lover Michael Hutchence and her big plans for 2021...
We’re looking forward to Ruthless Women – is it based on past or present clients?
You’ll have to wait and see! There’s going to be a real guessing game. It’s going to be quite possibly the most shocking book ever to be published, full of bad behaviour, outrageous sex and revenge mad divas. It shows what life behind the scenes on a soap opera is really like, with more drama off camera than on.
Sounds juicy!
Absolutely. It’s also incredibly sexy – in fact, it’s full of sex! I wrote it in lockdown, alone, having split from my boyfriend and my imagination ran a little wild. I’ve let the soap stars I represent read it as I was worried I’d have another Nolans situation, but they raved about it.
What was the ‘Nolans situation’?
Some of the Nolan sisters initially took exception to The Thunder Girls story. Maureen was convinced it’s based on them – which it totally isn’t. Coleen explained that to her, but she still boycotted my book launch. Coleen came along to support me but Maureen and I had a very heated text exchange so I doubt we’ll ever speak again. Their sister Linda came to see The Thunder Girls stage show and we’ve been fine ever since. It was all quite upsetting as I’d managed the group for 10 years and reformed them for their 2009 reunion tour.
Have any clients had issues in the past 12 months with so much focus now on you? Most have been supportive, but a TV presenter I’d represented for many years had a problem with it, we parted ways when my second book was announced. Some stars want it all to be about them. I don’t want any negativity.
You were involved in a rather public spat with ex client Nadia Sawalha. What happened? I’ve kept a dignified silence on what happened between us, but when Julia, her sister, went public I felt I should back her. I didn’t think the tweet I sent would end up in the press though.
Tell us more…
No! Julia’s words about Nadia are out there for all to see. I don’t need to add more. Maybe if
‘The book is incredibly sexy – it’s full of sex!’
she apologises we’ll sort it out. It can be awkward when we bump into each other. The last time was in an ITV corridor and we pretended we hadn’t seen each other!
Tell us about your gorgeous home?
It’s a detached Georgian villa in Crouch End. I often stand in the front room, with a glass of Buck’s Fizz, watching the sun set over Alexandra Palace. It was an absolute wreck when I bought it and it took about two years to renovate. I had the palm trees in the garden flown in, full-sized, from Italy.
It’s very glamorous inside...
I love glamour, which is why I had a make-up area built. I think it comes from growing up in rough surroundings. I also love sparkly, shiny things and I handpicked all the chandeliers. Every room has a dimmer switch – any woman over 40 will understand!
What made you choose the artwork on display? I love Russell Young’s ICONS series, where he’s turned celebrity mug shots into works of art. Celebrities are rule breakers and I like that. I also love Peter Blake. Whenever I walk past his pictures, the 3D butterflies move.
Your walk-in wardrobe is amazing...
It’s my fashion Narnia! Growing up with nothing either makes you mean or makes you want to be kind to others – I’m the latter. That’s why I wanted to give my YSL bag to someone who deserves a treat. My mum was a cleaner and rarely got anything for herself. She died a decade ago, sadly, but she’d have loved this bag. So I want OK! readers to nominate someone they think deserves it and I’ll send it to them. Next year, I’ll do the same with a piece of jewellery.
What’s in your jewellery collection?
I’m a sucker for diamonds. I have jewels owned by Jackie Collins, Diana Dors, Zsa Zsa Gabor and, of course, the gorgeous ring Michael Hutchence gave me which I’d never part with. I can almost hear Zsa Zsa laugh and say, “Cheers, Darlink!” when I pick up a glass of champagne wearing her gorgeous 50-carat tourmaline and diamond ring! I also have Jayne Mansfield’s travel case that still shows her Hollywood address, The Pink Palace.
What’s next for The Thunder Girls?
I’m adapting it for TV and several Hollywood studios have made offers on the movie rights, but I’m holding out. I didn’t wait this long for it to be a success to put it in the wrong hands. It’s lovely to know that reading The Thunder Girls has taken people’s minds off this terrible time in lockdown. I’ve had a blast doing interviews all over the world to promote it, but this is my last until next year. I never really understood how exhausting it can be being in front of the camera. So I’m looking forward to getting behind the scenes and watching all my clients enjoy the limelight! But I’ll be back with a bang in February with Ruthless Women, and I can’t wait to see what everyone thinks of it, so that’s really exciting!