Inside the life of Sydney’s top PR guru and star of new reality series, Roxy Jacenko

Bold, glamorous and relentlessly hardworking, Roxy Jacenko’s scandal-ridden life makes her reality TV show irresistible before it’s even aired.

She’s the Sydney businesswoman worth multi-millions with the juiciest little black book in town — not to mention a number of well-documented scandals dotting her past.

But whether you love her, hate her, or barely know who she is: PR queen Roxy Jacenko’s life reads like a modern-day soap opera, making her upcoming reality series I Am … Roxy!, running as part of Channel 10’s Pilot Week, irresistible.

RELATED: Roxy Jacenko blasts graffiti attackers who vandalised office

The mother-of-two will put her private life on display in the Keeping up with the Kardashians -style program — from the inner workings of her business empire, to her relationship with husband Oliver Curtis, who was jailed in 2016 for insider trading.

Here’s everything we know about the high-flying Sydney-sider.

PR queen Roxy Jacenko. Picture: Stanley Images

FAMILY LIFE

Born to a well-to-do family, Roxy has long-maintained her parents’ wealth has nothing to do with her own success.

Roxy’s parents Nick Jacenko and Doreen Davis’ business was a major supplier to suburban ladies brand Noni B.

But Roxy has since fallen out with her dad after her parents’ 38-year marriage disintegrated in 2011 and Nick soon became engaged to former fashion designer Lisa Ho. In 2016, a bizarre report emerged that a violent stoush broke out on a Sydney street between Roxy and her father.

RELATED: Roxy Jacenko denies public dispute with estranged father

A police investigation into the incident resulted in no charges, and Roxy later told Mail Online that the reports she had become violent during the run-in were fabricated by her father and his new partner.

“There is no basis for these allegations. I can only attribute such comments to a sad quest for public notoriety by my father Nick Jacenko and Lisa Ho,” she told the publication at the time.

Last year, she opened up about the incident to Who, revealing: “I was coming out of a restaurant and my dad set upon myself and my mother, while my two children were there,” she explained. “It’s something I will never forget.”

Roxy and her kids Pixie and Hunter. Picture: Damian Shaw

RISE TO NOTORIETY

Roxy, 39, started her empire with PR firm Sweaty Betty at the age of 24, after dropping out of a fashion course at TAFE.

She attributes Marcs fashion label founder Mark Keighery as her guide in her early days, considering she had no experience.

Roxy at the opening of Hyde Paradiso. Picture: Supplied.

Having previously worked as a receptionist and at McDonald’s, she has since gone on to head up influencer agency Ministry of Talent, social media agency Social Union and accessories brand Pixie’s Bows, of which her seven-year-old daughter Pixie Curtis — quite the influencer herself — is the face of.

Her empire reportedly has an annual turnover of $10 million to $13 million, though this figure has never been confirmed.

Roxy also hosts regular In Conversation seminars and has five books to her name, including PR industry guide Roxy’s Little Black Book of Tips and Tricks, which made headlines before it hit the shelves because of a badly worded testimonial on the cover from radio host Jackie O. Jacenko “never fails to disappoint” should have said “never fails to deliver”.

Known for instilling a tough work ethic in her staff, Roxy’s hugely successful career is a credit to her own personal brand — reflected on her Instagram page which boasts a following of 234,000.

She was the runner up on the third season of the Celebrity Apprentice Australia in 2013, famously butting heads with Olympic swimmer and overall winner Stephanie Rice.

I Am … Roxy! Isn’t her first shot at a reality show centred around her life and career, either.

In early 2010, Roxy signed a deal with Seven Network to star in a semi-scripted reality television show called The Sweat Box. Later that year, however, Channel 7 cancelled production of the show.

TUMULTUOUS MARRIAGE

In 2016, Roxy’s husband since 2012 Oliver Curtis and father of her two children Hunter, four, and Pixie, seven, was convicted of insider trading and sentenced to two years in prison.

The former investment banker was released after one year on a good behaviour bond, but the toll his incarceration had on the Roxy’s reputation was enormous.

“What Oli’s trial did was make me look as if anything I had was from ill-gotten gains. I was very resentful of that because I have worked since the age of 14. I bought my first property at 21, the second at 25. I have worked for every f---ing thing I’ve got. No one has handed me anything,” she said last year.

RELATED: Oliver Curtis opens up about his time in prison

During Oliver’s incarceration, Roxy was photographed kissing her former boyfriend, property developer Nabil Gazal, who she later admitted to having an affair with.

“I’m not proud of some of the things I did. I was in a situation where it was tough,” Jacenko told Sunday Night.

Roxy Jacenko and Oliver Curtis were the glamorous “it” couple - but it all came crashing down when Oliver was jailed on insider trading charges. This Sunday, Roxy and Oliver break their silence to @MelissaDoyle about that tumultuous time - 8:45pm on @Channel7. @SweatyBettyPR pic.twitter.com/pMCx5K8HT7

— Sunday Night (@SundayNightOn7) November 20, 2018

Just this week, Roxy told Stellar she threatens her husband with divorce “every day”.

“It’s very hard for anything to last forever, the divorce rate is huge,” she said when asked about her parents’ divorce.

“I know how many times in my life I’ve thought I’m getting a divorce myself. And I’ve only been married eight years! I threaten Ollie every day with it.”

In a teaser for the upcoming reality series posted on her Instagram page below, Roxy and Oliver’s passionate relationship — and Roxy’s blunt treatment of her husband — is on clear display.

HEALTH SCARES

Two weeks after Oliver was sentenced, Roxy was diagnosed with breast cancer. She later told Sunday Night she blamed the diagnosis on her husband.

“I said to him, It’s your fault. This is all your fault,” she recalled, even telling him “you gave me cancer.”

Along with her cancer diagnosis, Roxy suffered a nervous breakdown. Describing the dark time on Sunday Night, the PR queen said she was “living on alcohol and drugs” and experienced suicidal thoughts.

Roxy said she was “living on alcohol and drugs” due to the pressure of Oliver’s trial. Picture: Dylan Robinson

She was prescribed Effexor, an anti-anxiety and antidepressant drug, which she is still on now.

In 2017, she had a second cancer scare, news which came as a shock seeing as she takes Tamoxifen, a breast cancer prevention drug, daily.

Opening up about the scare to YahooBe, she revealed her breast cancer radiation therapy had caused damage to her original 12-year-old implants, and the lumps that had been picked up during the scan were not cancerous.

“I was fine throughout my radiation process,” she said. “I never had any issues with the fact that I had the implants, but then in the last sort of two months, I started to notice in pictures that one of my boobs is up near my chin and the other was down near my ankles.”

RECENT CONTROVERSY

Earlier this year, the PR powerhouse slammed “lazy and entitled” young Australian workers for adopting a work-life balance instead of pouring every waking hour into their careers.

She claimed Aussie workers had a reputation for their “nine-to-five mentality” and could learn from the Chinese who worked “all hours of the day” in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail.

Roxy credited her own success to the long hours she’s put in and claimed today’s young workers expected too much, too soon.

“Work-life balance is wonderful but unrealistic,” she said.

“If I had that all perfect, then I would not be where I am today.

“I work seven days a week because I want to exceed expectations — good enough is not good enough for me.”

Roxy slammed “lazy” Australian workers. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Photography

She continued: “Young people expect to be on 100k and refuse to do menial tasks.

“But you have to learn from the bottom up, you have to do the mail and file documents.

“You’re not going to walk in and be an executive.”

She went on to say that schools needed to take responsibility for encouraging children to work harder and even suggested young people offer to work for free to kick-star their career.

“It needs to start from a career advisory perspective — perhaps 16-year-olds should do two days of work experience per week over six months,” she said.

“They need more experience of the working world and part-time work needs to be encouraged.”

Despite her enormous wealth, Roxy said she would make her children get jobs at 14 to teach them the value of hard work.

I am … Roxy! Premieres next Wednesday at 8.30 on Channel 10.