
In 1987, 20-year-old Nicki Chapman wasn't meant to be walking through the seedy but sublime Soho streets towards MCA records; she was supposed to be living it up in the much sunnier climes of Australia. But fate, as it turned out, had much louder plans for her. Everyone knows that in the 90s and 00s there were king-makers in pop music, namely Simon Fuller and Simon Cowell. But this is the story of the queen - who wasn't so much a marionette pulling strings as a down-to-earth, no-nonsense team player who made it in the music industry when it was very much a man's world. How did she go from a looked-over assistant to the judge on Pop Idol. That - plus the rocketing highs and heart-breaking lows of promoting, managing and touring with Prince, Amy Winehouse, Bowie, Take That, Phil Collins, S Club 7, the Spice Girls and many more besides - is what you're about to find out.