Six months ago, you probably hadn’t heard of Amy Childs. But chances are, you’re familiar with her face now. But we’re confident that, as soon as we mention the word ‘vajazzle’, everything will fall into place. For those who have been living in a bubble, beautician Amy brought the ‘vajazzling’ trend to the masses on hit reality show The Only Way Is Essex, which follows the lives of a group of Essex friends.After she decorated her friend Sam’s lady parts with crystals, the craze spread across the UK. Until now, Amy, 20, had never actually had one herself. But why restrict the sparkles to your nether regions when you can have them all over? She couldn’t agree more…

Arriving at our studio in a hot pink Juicy Couture tracksuit, and fully made-up (so far, so cliché), it doesn’t take long for Amy to find her way into our affections, and it’s easy to see why she’s already won over a legion of adoring fans – boys and girls alike. She might not be the most eloquent speaker, but her Essex tones are charming, friendly, and her impeccable manners make her adorable. Katie Price, take note.

And with the latter doing her best to self-destruct in full view of the general public, there’s room for a new über-glossed, fake-boobed sex pot on the scene. Amy’s just grateful the ITV2 reality show has given her a platform.

Without batting a (false) eyelash, Amy strips down to her thong and prepares to be vajazzled. The four-hour process takes us into lunch, and while most underwear models nibble a few salad leaves prior to standing in front of the camera, we’ve nothing but respect for Amy, who orders a plate of fish and chips. ‘I did an hour and a half’s training the other day,’ says the gym bunny. ‘Then I went and ordered myself a Domino’s pizza. You’ve got to enjoy what you eat, you only live once. I don’t want to be stick thin.’ Not the usual attitude of a sex bomb, but all the more reason to love her.

‘Is that what I’m known as?’ she asks with a giggle, ‘Oh, my God! It’s flattering I suppose.’

Someone who agrees Amy’s worthy of the description is model and reality star Caprice, who asked her to be the face of her lingerie line. ‘She showed me how to pose all day in my underwear, she was such a good teacher,’ says Amy. ‘Afterwards my mum said, “You seem so much more confident now”.’

But, far from living up to the ‘Essex slapper’ stereotype, Amy visibly squirms when grilled on the intimate details of her sex life. And, although she’s happy to strip down to her birthday suit today, she wouldn’t have done it without the crystals covering her modesty. ‘I’ve never wanted to do topless,’ she vows.

Amy now admits to channelling the career of another curvy bombshell. ‘Definitely, definitely Kelly Brook,’ says the redhead. ‘She’s beautiful isn’t she? I love modelling underwear and bikinis, but the classy side.’

Even the most prudish bystander on the photoshoot can’t fail to notice how Amy’s ‘twin assets’ stand to attention. And she has no regrets about getting them surgically enhanced to a 32D. ‘If you aren’t comfortable or confident about something you should try and change,’ she muses. ‘I was tiny-chested – an A cup – and had them done when I was 18. Even my friends said I had a boy’s figure, so I wanted them natural and to look good in dresses. I have no regrets. My mum and dad backed me up because they knew how insecure I was. I’d have another boob job after having children, if they go saggy. I didn’t do it because I wanted to get them out all the time, I just thought it would be nice to show a little bit of cleavage. It made me more comfortable.‘

Being so ‘family orientated’, Amy admits she consults her parents with all major decisions concerning her career – and the men in her life. ‘If I only like someone a bit and my mum says she doesn’t like him, I wouldn’t be with him, because that’s how much I respect my mum and dad. I love my family, we are all very close.’

With Kirk Norcross (who she dated in the first series of The Only Way is Essex) now a distant memory (he won’t be in the next series), Amy’s gooey-eyed over a city broker, Joe, whom she met at the gym where she used to work. Fortunately he gets the thumbs-up from mum and dad. ‘When I first met Joe, I thought, “Phwoar”, he’s so good-ooking, but he makes me laugh so much. I’d say he’s the class clown,’ she gushes. ‘We’ve known each other eight months, but only got together recently. He’s one of those all the boys love, and my parents love him.’

Despite keeping him out of the spotlight for now, she’s revealed Joe will make an appearance on the ITV2 show in March. But what does he think about her modelling?

‘He’s 100 per cent happy,’ she chirps. ‘If I was doing topless, he wouldn’t agree, but he likes me doing classy things. I must admit, if he didn’t like something and I wanted to do it and my management said I could, I’d do it! Luckily, we all agree.’

With all the modelling and red-carpet commitments, Amy’s reluctantly had to reduce her salon time. Although she is looking into opening one of her own in London. ‘I couldn’t be a beautician if I didn’t like feet or waxing,’ she says. ‘I love doing Brazilians, Hollywoods, normal bikini lines. It’s so normal to me. Ladies come in saying, “Oh, my God, oh my God”, but we’re all girls. I just say,“Get up on the bed”.’ A masseuse by trade, we can’t say we’re surprised to hear she’s popular with the clients. ‘I used to do a sports massage,’ she giggles. ‘I used to be really firm and all of a sudden I got so many male clients coming in.’ Did any cross the line and ask for, ahem, extras?

‘No, not ever. I’ve got the [alarm] chord anyway so I’d just pull that. Some guys get like, “Am I going to get a snog after this?” One guy said that, but he was good-looking so I thought he was just having a laugh, but if it had been some weirdo I’d be like, “Oh my God!” But I didn’t mind this one though because he was good-looking… We’re still friends.’

But with vajazzling being so 2010, Amy’s determined to uncover a new gimmick before the next series kicks off. ‘I’m doing my homework,’ she says in all seriousness. ‘At the end of the day, you can’t beat the vajazzling – Vajazzling.com said they’d sold out all over the country after the show. Big hit, big hit, I think I’ll always be known as the Vajazzle Queen. But there could be something else that people would like.’ We can’t wait to find out what…

The next series of The Only Way is Essex starts in March, but cameras won’t start rolling until five days before it transmits. ‘Everyone thinks it’s filmed way before but it is real life so we film, then it’s on,’ Amy explains. ‘We worry about seeing what’s on, but [co-star and partner in crime] Sam is my friend. She wouldn’t say anything bad about me and I wouldn’t about her. I don’t say nothing nasty about anyone. I’m not like that as a person.’

Although Amy admits to never having performed a back, sack and crack operation (‘I prefer ladies’ treatments,’ she explains), other manly procedures are getting increasingly popular. ‘You get a lot of guys into anal bleaching,’ she says completely poker-faced. ‘And pejazzles (the male vajazzle, use your imagination), but I’m not into that.’ And while we know she’s a sucker for a pretty boy, she tells us how much male grooming is acceptable. ‘I do spray tans, so I like men who have a nice glow,’ she says. ‘Eyebrow shaping is OK because men get such bushy eyebrows – and regular facials are fine.’

Sex, Sex, Sex, Sex!

Although lady bits and partial nudity aren’t topics that faze her, Amy flinches when we ask her to spill her most intimate secrets...

Have you ever joined the mile-high club? (Long pause) Never. If people wanna do it, go for it, but not me. [Changes subject] It’s lovely all this glitter isn’t it babe? Where do you get it from? It’s so nice.

What about sex on the beach? No. I’m going to sound really boring now.

Have you ever had a rude dream about someone you shouldn’t have? Probably, but I can’t remember. I read a book about dreams. In a week, I have about three bad dreams, but the others are nice, so I don’t mind.

Words: Lyndsey Gilmour. Fashion: Carly Stevens, assisted by Michelle Howard. Photographs: Can Associates/Dan Kennedy. Inset picture: Flynet. Hair and make-up: Rosie Lewis using Bobbi Brown and Bumble & bumble. Body make-up: Lan Nguyen using Swarovski Crystallized.