It doesn't work for everyone but it certainly paved the way for a young girl from Ulster who played 'television' in her room and dreamed of bright lights and make-up chairs. She grew up to become Christine Bleakley. Here's how it's done...
1. Have a hero
Young ambition: Christine Bleakley at the Bloomfield Collegiate School in 1997In thIs case, Gloria Hunniford. Unlikely though it may sound, Christine set her heart on a career in broadcasting because she was infatuated with Miss Hunniford - a Protestant from Ulster, just like her.
If Gloria could do it, so could our Christine! Born with the kind of drive that makes a colony of ants look idle, she set about making her escape from her comfortable middle class background (Bleakley's mother Mina, was an accountant and her father, Frederick, a jazz musician).
First, though, every rising star needs a showreel: as a girl, Christine liked to play 'TV' in her bedroom - and act out her fantasy of being a presenter. She requested a video camera for Christmas so she could make her own shows.
Christine recently recalled: 'You can just hear me bossing my sister about or whoever else I'd coerced into playing TV with me [in the tapes].'
Some things never change.
2. Every megastar has to start somewhere Back in the mists of time, when she had masses of naturally curly hair and a cut-price wardrobe of small denim skirts and pastel jackets, Christine would take on any job, no matter how low-rent, as her launchpad to stardom.
On the way up: Sky High's Christine Bleakley flags up the two-part Sky High New York special on BBC1 Northern IrelandShe was still a teenager when she talked her way into a job with Citybeat, a fledgling commercial radio station in Belfast.
She left Citybeat to join BBC Northern Ireland where she was a lowly continuity announcer, reasoning that here, her chances of being promoted to greater things would increase.
3. Trading up (or how to pick the perfect partner for fame) As she climbed the ladder to stardom, Christine had a string of increasingly high-profile boyfriends.
As she started to make a name for herself in regional TV, she dated Curt Bowen, the pin-up boy of the Belfast Giants ice hockey team.
Soon she and Curt were engaged and she wrote a newspaper column recounting her life as a Belfast 'It Girl'.
Todd Kelman, Bowen's then teammate and now the club's general manager, says: 'I don't think Christine would ever have been satisfied with success in Northern Ireland only.'
Two years later, she met a more high-profile figure, Christian Stokes, a successful restaurateur in Dublin. She said: 'This time it's for real - it's a more mature love.' Within two years, though, it was over and she started a relationship with Mark Beirne, who ran a large chain of bars and clubs.
However, within 18 months of Christine starting on the One Show, their romance was over.
Beirne claimed that Adrian Chiles, her co-presenter, was the 'third person' in their relationship.
Now, of course, she has the biggest prize of all in 'celebdom' - a multi-millionaire footballer by the name of Frank Lampard. Goal!
4. A little scandal never hurt anyone Adrian Chiles and Christine started working together in August 2008. 'At first, I thought she was a dippy, nice-looking bird from Northern Ireland, and she thought I was a miserable old fart,' said Adrian. 'But we eventually just clicked.'
There was a time when they could be seen exercising together every day. Photos of Chiles gazing at his running partner had people talking.
Chiles said about the chances of romance between him and Christine: 'It would be like West Brom being linked with Ronaldo. Look at her - look at me. West Brom might like to sign Ronaldo, but it's not going to happen.'
Are they, aren't they: Adrian Chiles denied any romantic link to Christine, but it didn't stop the media following their every move togetherThey were once seen entering his brother's flat in West London carrying take-aways, where they stayed for just under an hour. Chiles was adamant that it was not some kind of a liaison, though.
Soon, Chiles's ten-year marriage to radio presenter Jane Garvey broke up. Everyone wondered if the evident magic between the likable bloke next door and his glamorous sidekick had something to do with the split - but they both denied it.
But the truth was immaterial - Christine became tabloid fodder.
5. Sometimes silence is golden
Only at the point she met Frank lampard, and achieved lucrative stardom, did Christine suddenly discover the virtues of silence.
Having been happy to talk about anything, she realised that now that she had everyone's attention, a little mystery might be useful.
She gave only one interview in which she opined of her relationship with lampard: 'It's very relaxed and very private and that's just how I like it.' She added: 'I am so not a WAG.'
I'm not a WAG: Christine was on the Chelsea bus for their champions' parade, she was in SOuth Africa for the World Cup and flew home on the England plane, and is now holidaying with Frank Lampard in in Sardinia
Photo opportunity: The years of play acting in her bedroom has clearly paid off... our Christine really knows how to work a camera (see Step 10)In fact, she's so not a WAG that she went on the bus for Chelsea's victory parade this summer, dressed in a Chelsea hat and scarf.
She also accompanied Frank to various nightclubs to hang out with other players and their WAGS. And - still not being a WAG, of course - she flew out to South Africa last week to support Lampard, even though she had insisted that she wasn't going. And she returned home on the England plane.
Lampard likes to watch her when she is filming, to show his support. He has met her sister and she has been introduced to his family, too, including his two daughters by ex-partner Elen Rives.
Yesterday, friends of Lampard told how his father, Frank Snr, says that wedding bells might be imminent. There is talk that they will move in together later this summer, in advance of her starting her early mornings at GMTV.
6. Loyalty counts for little
Agent John Noel, who has looked after Davina McCall, picked up Christine as a client when she was on BBC Northern Ireland. Noel's friends say her stint on Strictly Come Dancing and her record-breaking cross-Channel water-ski were both his ideas to get her better known.
This summer he was negotiating a new deal for her with the BBC. She had been paid £90,000 a year, but he had secured an offer of £2 million over two years, plus the chance to anchor Olympic coverage in 2012.
He thought she would be thrilled, but Noel was 'terminated' by text on June 4. When he emailed her, he received a stern letter from her solicitors, Olswang.
Noel was astonished - he had thought tha t they were close on a personal level.
'John was pushing for her to stay at the BBC, but Christine was interested in taking ITV's cash,' a friend said.
7. Go for the loot!
Christine then entrusted her career to John Thoday, who represents Chiles and has quite a reputation as an aggressive negotiator. All her deals started to be looked at again, with Thoday pushing ITV to come up with a firm offer, and the BBC to better their deal.
The BBC thought that they had a verbal agreement with Bleakley herself, and were astonished to be asked to jump through more hoops.
A period of brinksmanship followed, with Alan Yentob of the BBC eventually tiring of being held to ransom and releasing a statement to say that 'regretfully' they were going to let her go. Hour s later, Thoday announced that she was going to move to GMTV for pots of cash.
The talk at ITV is that Adrian Chiles may only stay to launch the new programme, leaving Christine behind to face the early morning grind alone - a grim prospect, no matter how much she is being paid.
8. The ring thing
One ring to rule them all...When nothing is going on, wear a wedding ring. Or else, take it off.
Cheryl Cole performed a daily show for photographers with her wedding rings as her marriage to Ashley faltered.
And, returning from South Africa, Christine appeared to be flashing a diamond wedding band on a significant finger.
Her spokesman says that it's a ring from Tiffany's that she bought herself and often swaps between hands.
Would it be terribly cynical to suggest that she is dropping a hint to Frank?
Whatever, it guaranteed her yet more Press exposure.
9. Cultivate friends in high places
Xtine factor: Christine with king of exposure Simon Cowell at Royal AscotAnyone who really wants to make it in TV needs to schmooze Simon Cowell.
And Christine has quietly played a blinder - first making friends with Cowell's fellow Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden, and then dazzl ing Cowell after Amanda introduced the two of them.
Holden admitted last year that Cowell has quite a 'crush' on Christine and for this reason he invited her to his box at Ascot and his birthday party.
She said in an interview: 'I'm too feisty, too lippy for him. I've met him a few times now and he's very mischievous.
'There's definitely something charismatic about him - he's got a bit of an aura. It's quite rare.'
Now that's playing hard to get!
10. Keep yourself... er... private How unfortunate that photographers should be on hand every single day of her holiday with Lampard.
But is there a clue in an interview she gave to Glamour magazine in 2009, in which she complained about being snapped looking less than-perfect while on holiday?
'I have made the acquaintance of Darryn Lyons over the last year, the now famous Aussie paparazzi bloke,' she said. 'He was extolling the virtues of the set-up pap shot...
'He gets the shot and the person in it looks like they want to look. How pathetic, I thought at the time. . . but never say never.
'Put it this way: if you see me looking anything like flawless on a beach it will have been set up, a long time in the planning. . . and the subject of diligent airbrushing supervised by my good self.'
source: dailymail
