Former child star repped by tragic Lena Zavaroni's managers also told to lose weight

dailyrecord.co.uk:

THE child star who preceded singing sensation Lena Zavaroni has revealed he was encouraged to lose weight by managers who told him he would be ‘paid a pound for every pound he lost.’Neil Reid, from Motherwell, who shot to fame after appearing on Opportunity Knocks in 1971, said Phil and Dorothy Solomon - managers he shared with Lena - suggested he needed to slim down for TV.The singer said although, being told to shed weight did not have a detrimental affect on him, it obviously had a bigger impact on Zavaroni who struggled with an eating disorder right up to her untimely death in 1999 aged 35.Neil, who holds the record for the youngest person to reach number one in the UK album charts, said: “When I was doing Opportunity Knocks in 1971 I was a 12-year-old chubby little boy so my managers Phil and Dorothy gave me an incentive that for every pound I lost I was paid a pound.“There was the saying back then that the camera added 10 pounds therefore if you wanted to look normal weight you had to look a bit lighter and although, I lost a few pounds on the back of their suggestion, I didn’t embark on a weight control regime.“In the context of what happened to Lena it carried a much greater significance and if I was to reflect back on that period was it right and would it considered right today? - no it wouldn’t.

Did it damage me - no it didn’t.”Dad-of-one Neil, 64, features in a powerful new BBC Scotland documentary about Lena - the little girl with the huge voice from the Isle of Bute who captured the nation’s heart.Lena Zavaroni: The Forgotten Child Star recalls the troubled life of the child star who won Opportunity Knocks in 1974 and went on to become the youngest singer to have a top ten album in the UK.From sharing a