TOWIE's Lauren Pope gets right up our nose

As a rule, the bigger the star – the nicer they are. So little wonder we had such a tough time with an ITV2 B-list blonde says BECKY?SHARPE

When it comes to celebrity hierarchies, The Only Way Is Essex star Lauren Pope is hardly an A-lister.

In fact, she comes across as a bit of a B (at best), desperately milking the red top press and trashy mag circus for all she can before the inevitable fall to the Z-list.

And then it'll be:?'Sorry love, your name's not on the list'.

But when the Express & Star tried to pin down the DJ and model for a chat ahead of a trip to the Black Country tonight . . . well, it might have been easier to bag an interview with the actual Pope, rather than 'Popey'.

With her stunning figure, glossy blonde hair and orange perma-tan, she's become the darling of the paparazzi thanks to her appearances in ITV2's TOWIE, and along with her co-stars usually seems eager to be snapped at the opening of a paper bag.

But when she takes to the decks at Wolverhampton's Walkabout bar in Queen Street tonight, press photographs will be off-limits – all because of the recent his 'n' hers cosmetic surgery she endured with boyfriend Kirk Norcross.

Their new noses will be the subject of a money-spinning magazine deal, and Popey's 'people' don't want snaps of her schnoz getting anywhere else first.

As if, as they say in Chigwell.

Their newly-sculpted beaks have so far been kept under wraps, with the pair pictured out and about with fetching bandages plastered across their faces. So despite our journalists regularly securing interviews with high-profile stars and politicians such as David Cameron, David Beckham and Cliff Richard, we got short shrift when it came to trying to talk to this reality TV star.

First, we tried the direct approach. A quick search on Twitter revealed her to be something of a social network junkie.

She has a whopping 203,421 followers, and has posted a staggering 18,819 updates. We sent her a message saying we were keen for a chat, and eagerly awaited her tweet back (@LaurenPope, for the record).

But despite finding time to update her followers about hair extensions and photo shoots, we never got an answer from Lauren herself. It was time to try the agency that books her, Vital Music. We asked for an interview but were told any questions about TOWIE were completely off-limits, as was her love life.

Hmm. There's not much else to discuss really is there?

Photos were a no-go too. When we asked why, we were told: "Because she is doing paid interviews with some big nationals as well as other paid publicity stuff which management don't want to jeopardise – as far as I know," came the response.

Just as we were about to tell them 'no thanks', came the final response: "Checked with management and Lauren isn't doing any more interviews right now," said her 'people'. So that's it – the barriers have come up around precious Popey and we're banned from asking her a couple of questions about the BAFTA-winning show and the charmed life it's allowing her, as a here-today-gone-tomorrow 'celeb' who plays tunes.

Just a quick search on Google throws up no less than 779,000 images of the blonde – and she's ditched her clothes for most of them. So why a picture of her in the DJ booth and meeting Black Country revellers is such a big deal is beyond us.

It's not even as if Pope is a main player on the show, the woman is little more than window dressing.

And while her role on the programme was under threat – many of the wafer-thin 'characters' have been axed from the third series in September – her recent surgical enhancement suggests her TV career is continuing.

So while we'd love to tell you more about the 27-year-old stunner, we can't.

Maybe she's just not got that much to say.

Who nose?