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It always amazes me how many talentless and downright rude celebrities there are out there.

And I should know. I’ve been interviewing them for over 10 years while working for MTV and now Virgin Radio.

But it’s not the bad boys of music I’m talking about. The Rolling Stones are a joy to interview and Pete Doherty gets terrible press but, in person, he’s articulate and charming.

You see, in showbiz I’ve found that it’s those who’ve been catapulted to stardom overnight who turn out to be as pleasant as the plague.

Let me paint a picture for you.

It was my first ever interview for Virgin Radio and I was anxiously waiting backstage at the V Festival to speak to a new singer/songwriter called KT Tunstall.

But I needn’t have worried.

She greeted me with a big grin and a tale about a man she’d just caught peeing against a tree. I was instantly at ease.

Fast-forward a few years and KT’s gone on to become one of the best-selling female artist in the British charts, yet she still greets me with that same grin.

Now compare the lovely KT with some reality TV ‘stars’ I have met.

On one occasion I was again anxiously waiting to do an interview, this time with a contestant on The X Factor, who was running hideously late. That wouldn’t have been a problem had the interview not been for a live show on MTV.

When this person finally showed up, I wished she hadn’t bothered. It seemed she’d disappeared so far up her own behind she wouldn’t even talk to us! She only switched on the charm when the cameras started rolling.

There was certainly no evidence of the bubbly contestant we saw on the show every Saturday night.

Maybe she was having an off day, but ask any cabbie “Who’s the worst person you’ve had in the back of your cab?” and I guarantee they’ll name a reality TV star.

“I had some fella from Big Brother in my cab,” one told me. “You should have heard the language he was hurling at his fans!” The very people who made him famous in the first place.

At the Celebrity Big Brother wrap party in 2006, the show’s winner, Chantelle, was described to me as a right snotty cow by my friend who’d been working on the series.

She looked right down her nose at her before being whisked away by a bodyguard!

So just why is it that some celebrities undergo a showbiz-style Jekyll and Hyde transformation and others remain marvellously down to earth? It’s all about how – and particularly how long – it took them to get there.

For me, fame is a by-product of talent. And only the truly talented should be entitled to the perks of being famous. Sadly, many of today’s stars want the fame without putting in the graft.

The only discernable talent they possess is the ability to fall out of a nightclub after too many free drinks. They haven’t spent years gigging in dingy pubs, desperate for a record deal.

Nope – if you’re The Cheeky Girls a record deal is yours in the time it takes to sing Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) in a Popstars: The Rivals audition.

The cult of talentless celebs is a runaway train that needs to be stopped.

So next time you feel tempted to pick up the phone and vote, just make sure the person you’re about to turn into a star will be worthy of their fame.

Sarah Champion will be broadcasting live backstage at the Virgin Mobile V Festival on Virgin Radio, August 16 and 17, from 9pm-midnight.