The start of a New Year is always pretty crap. Our bank balances have gone down on us faster than any man ever will, it’s bloody freezing outside and we can’t even peacefully comfort eat away our despair because everyone around us is detoxing and insta-shoving it in our faces.
Luckily, the start of a New Year also means the return of Paddy McGuiness and his flirty thirty ‘Take Me Out’ girls. We’ve decided to one up Mark and Laura of Take Me Out: The Gossip by taking out Georgette Beacham, who is currently looking for love on the hit Saturday night show, to find out all the backstage gossip.
Hi Georgette. What was it like being one of Paddy’s flirty thirties on Take Me Out?
I loved it but it was actually a lot more hard work that I thought it would be and there was a lot of pressure. You didn’t know if Paddy was going to come to you or not so every time he asked a question you had to think of the answer on the spot!
What was the application process like?
It was a four page questionnaire which asked about your relationship history and to describe your worst date and then it was a phone interview. After that you got invited to an audition in Cardiff and you did that with 10 other girls. You had to fill out another form about yourself and then take part in a five minute interview on camera and tell Paddy and the producers why they should pick you. Oh, and you had to take part in a mini version of the show! They showed us old clips of previous guys and we had these cards that said ‘lighty’ or ‘no likey’ and then had to explain our choice. About two weeks after that you got sent another shortlisted questionnaire and then you found out whether or not you’d made it onto the show!
And how long did the filming go on for?
You filmed a show a day over 10 days. There were two coaches that left the hotel in the morning, one went at 9:30 and te other at 10:30 and that alternated every day between both groups. Then it was hair and make-up basically all day until the rehearsal at 4:30pm and then the actual show would start at 7pm.
What was it like sharing a dressing room with 30 other girls?
There were actually about eight dressing rooms so you only shared with three or four of the girls and these are more for you to chill out in while you’re waiting for to go into hair and make-up. There’s about 6 different rooms for each of those and there’s also a room called the wardrobe and that’s where they sort out your outfit for the show.
Do you not to get to choose what you wear then?
Well everybody takes 10 of their own outfits for the whole series and then you all try these on in one day so they can see what you’ve got and can get an understanding of your taste. They then organise exactly what you’re going to be wearing because they know who you’re going to be next to and what she’s going to be wearing, so literally every single detail has to go through them. They’ve also got a massive wardrobe so they’ll put you in what they want you to wear and you don’t really have a say in it, but if you’re not happy in something they will change it.
Did you ever get told who to leave your light on for?
No we never got told who to leave on our light on for. When they have the break before each guy comes down the love lift they’d tell us if they thought he would suit any of us or warn us if he was going to be a bit different. We got told to be very open minded though and you couldn’t just turn your light off because someone wasn’t your usual type or was a bit short or whatever. You were only meant to turn your light off if there was a real reason so that was quite hard.
Did you ever catch a glimpse of the guys before the show?
No they were really strict about that. The boys stayed at a different hotel and even after a couple won their date and walked down the stairs they were split up immediately and went their separate ways until Fernando’s. Even then the boys got flown out on a different flight and booked into different hotels until after the date when everyone stays in the villa.
Is Fernando’s just as messy as we’d expect it to be? Was there a Geordie Shore-style shag pad in the villa for couples to have sex in?
No it was the complete opposite of that! They make sure you all sleep in different rooms!
Were they ever any backstage fights over the boys after the shows?
No not at all! Without sounding too cheesy, it was a lot like girl power backstage. Everyone got on with everyone so it was really nice and we all looked out for each other if anything.
Did you have to share hotel rooms?
You could have your own room if you requested it but otherwise you shared with one of the other girls. They would normally change it each night as well because they like to keep people meeting each other and keep it friendly so nothing got too cliquey. It was really nice though because everyone got meet everyone and you really got to know each other.
And what’s Paddy really like?
Lovely! He’s exactly the same off screen as he is on screen and he was really happy to come and have pictures with us and chat to us all before the show.
Are you still in touch with the other girls?
Oh yeah we have this massive WhatsApp group that’s just ridiculous. We send about 700 messages a day so I’ve had to turn my notifications off.
And what’s this rumour we hear about a reunion party?
I’ve only heard about this because of previous years! Apparently there’s normally a reunion party but we haven’t heard anything about this yet. We’re organising our own one in Manchester this weekend though and I think we’re having another one in London soon.
Like this? Then you might also be interested in:
Girls Episode Three: Jessa Does Public Weeing, And Hannah Has A Crisis Of Being
Follow Freddie on Twitter @FreddiePalmer92
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.