Dark world of PRs and their celebrity clients – death, sex and chilling secrets

Tanya Roberts’ death – and the shocking reveal that the news had been wrongly reported – made headlines around the world.

The former model and actress, who found fame as both a Bond Girl and a Charlie’s Angel, was first reported to have died on Sunday evening.

Within 24 hours Tanya’s alleged death had been reported by countless news outlets and sparking an outpouring of obituaries and tributes – with her partner Lance O’Brien also recording an emotional interview with Inside Edition.

It was during the filmed chat that Lance discovered Tanya was in fact not dead, but still fighting for her life in ICU.

Lance had left the hospital earlier on Sunday believing that he had shared his love’s final moments after watching her ‘fade away’.

He immediately told Tanya’s agent Mike Pingle, who then shared the news with the world’s media.

Tanya’s tragic death then had to be reported for a second time on Tuesday.

Following the bizarre turn of events, agent to the stars Rob Cooper has shared an inside take at how publicists handle breaking news for their clients from deaths, births and weddings and the super secretive relationship that goes on between celebrities and their reps that fans don’t get to see.

Rob explains: “A good agent should have a really intense relationship with their client, as their representative your job isn’t just to publicise the celebrity and negotiate deals, a large part of your job is to know their darkest secrets and do everything possible to ensure personal details don’t make their way into the public domain, because of this many publicists become the closest person in a celebrity’s life.

“When a client is in demand, you often end up travelling around the world with them, staying in the same hotels, having meals together and sharing many highs and lows. The job can be literally 24 hours at times, with little time for sleep.However, during quieter periods you are still likely to have multiple calls throughout the week to check in with the client.

“From an outsiders perspective, I really sympathise with Tanya’s publicist after wrongly announcing the death of his client. The repercussions from making this false claim will damage his relationship with the media outlets as many titles will receive a backlash from readers, a backlash that isn’t deserved as they received the confirmation needed that Tanya had died.

“When announcing something as sensitive as a death, a publicist should not only confirm the news with a spouse or family member, but you should also ensure that anyone extremely close to the celebrity is made aware of the death before the news has broken.

“Once you are confident that anyone with a close relationship to the celebrity has been informed, you need to make sure that measures are put into place where their privacy is respected.

“The hardest thing for any agent is temporarily losing contact with their client. If a story is breaking and you can’t speak to them directly for whatever reason, you often have to rely on information from their spouse or family. If this information is wrong then it can cause all kinds of trouble.”

Following the incorrect announcement about Tanya’s death this week, Lance has attempted to explain how he wrongly interpreted her ‘final moments.’

“I turn around and she’s completely passed out cold,’ he told The Sun. “I thought that was that, she wasn’t going to recover.

“So when I came down the elevator I was distraught, I was lost, I was completely discombobulated. There was nobody there to guide me. I called her publicist Mike Pingel and I said I just said goodbye to Tanya.”

On Monday Pingel said that the hospital called Lance to tell him that Tanya was still alive, with his emotional reaction seen in the Inside Edition video interview.

The agent described Tanya’s condition as ‘dire.’

Lance told The Sun: “Her kidneys are so far gone, her liver is so far gone, her gall bladder is so far gone. She also has a terrible blood infection. The doctors say it started out with a urinary tract infection.

“The doctors say there’s no way she’s going to be the same. She always told me she didn’t want to be an invalid. She said if it got to this stage, end it for me.”