The man who turned Myleene Klass' fame into fortune

“I know the most powerful people in Britain,” says Shalit, who claims to have the Prime Minister and the editors of many major newspapers on speed dial. “I will speak to them to protect my clients if necessary.”

Tulisa, a member of the N-Dubs pop band, later solo artist and TV personality, is one of Shalit’s clients. She recently went to trial over drug allegations. However, Roar was spared the need to manage the crisis. “Fortunately Tulisa was completely vindicated and the case was thrown out,” says Shalit. “It could have been tragic for her.

“Things like that stay on the internet for ever. Long after the newspapers and magazines have been thrown away, a business will Google you and discount you for a major opportunity based on what they find.”

It is becoming harder and harder to police content online, he admits. “Companies are paid a lot of money to clean up reputations on the web these days,” he says.

Shalit claims that he can take anyone from “zero to hero” -–provided they have talent.

“You might not like all of our clients but they all have talent,” he says. “Someone who enjoys Greg Wallace on Masterchef may not like our contemporary music artists, or may not watch Judge Rinder [the star of a new British reality court show on ITV], but they are all very talented at what they do.”

Kerry Katona, in contrast, does not have talent, he claims. “Her way of living means milking every penny out of every opportunity,” he says. “She’s not skilled, she’s only good at being famous and provocative. She’s someone who gets paid to put on three stone and then to lose it,” he continues. “You can be talented and be a celebrity but you can also be a celebrity without being talented.”

Shalit defends the multi-million-pound pay cheques received by his celebrity clients. “A lot of them are single parents and need to finance their families,” she says. “And in this game, it’s feast or famine. A normal person has a constant income that grows and grows but talent doesn’t have that. They have to build a nest egg for when they retire, for the fallow years.”

Shalit founded his talent management company 15 years ago and has been credited with discovering popstrel Charlotte Church and taking Myleene Klass from member of pop group Hearsay to national treasure.

“It was difficult to get started but then I discovered Charlotte Church, which established me as a major talent finder,” he says. “You have to spot talent before it’s famous.”

His knack for signing emerging stars has helped the agency grow 20pc year on year. Today, Roar represents the interests of many household names. It brokered the deal between Lorraine Kelly and catalogue retailer JD Williams, set up brand partenrships for model Kelly Brook in clothing, fragrances and calendars, made Tulisa the face of BANK fashion and negotiated Denise van Outen’s endorsement of Liberte yogurt.

“People look at what I do and nod and wink and think it’s a bit of fun,” says Shalit.

“Actually I run a serious business that helps a lot of people.”

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