Max Clifford: 'Jade had no talent'

Max Clifford: 'Jade had no talent'
Max Clifford: 'Jade had no talent' (Image credit: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Jade Goody would have been the first person to admit that she had no talent, her friend and publicist Max Clifford has said. Max also said he did not profit from the former Big Brother star's death and paid some of the cancer-stricken star's medical bills. He told students at the London College of Communication: "Jade had no talent. She would be the first to tell you she had no talent. She was just herself." He said that in the last 10 years in particular people have increasingly become famous who have no talent at all. Max described fame as a drug that could be just as deadly as cocaine and alcohol. He said that when he was a child growing up, everyone who was famous had talent but in 2009 you do not need any talent to be famous and successful. Max was asked if profiting from Jade's death made him feel guilty. He said: "I did not profit from Jade Goody's death. I did pay her medical bills when the NHS let her down. "When she came to me a year ago, she did not have any money at all. I was starting to rebuild her career... I paid for her to see my doctor. "As to profiting from her, I did make a lot of money for her children, from which I did not take a penny... do I feel guilty about that? Not at all, I'm very proud actually." Get exclusive access to your favourite stars. Subscribe to TV Times magazine

Patrick McLennan

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix. 

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.