Been grunking and thinking and here's my 2p's worth as a journalist and a writer. We definitely don't get given emergency contact numbers for interviewees. We get a contact number that's either them or an agent or manager, sometimes both. A manager/agent or a PR person who set up the interview would be the first point of call in the case of a no-show, after the editor who commissioned the piece. The call might be made by the editor, depending on the situation. There's normally an agreed time slot as well. If anyone made all of those calls about a disappearing guest, it was her manager. If Shattenstone had that info, he clearly knows her far better than he's letting on. I think the former is the most likely.
The other thing that's jumped out at me was claiming that she earns about 17p per book sold, and that her publisher gives her £5k advances. These statements can't be simultaneously true. £5k equates to 29,411 copies of a book sold before any royalties are paid at all. That is a lot of books these days and a huge risk for any publisher. From a £22 book, I earn just over a pound from every copy sold, and that's with quite a small publisher.
The other thing that's jumped out at me was claiming that she earns about 17p per book sold, and that her publisher gives her £5k advances. These statements can't be simultaneously true. £5k equates to 29,411 copies of a book sold before any royalties are paid at all. That is a lot of books these days and a huge risk for any publisher. From a £22 book, I earn just over a pound from every copy sold, and that's with quite a small publisher.
to 
in the spoiler, either. Now it’s just a PayPal slush fund. 
