Beryl back on the box, this time in bid to bag a bargain

WHEN it comes to taking part in television game shows she is becoming something of an addict.

Former Scotsman shopping columnist Beryl Beattie is to clock up her fourth onscreen appearance in seven years when she battles it out on Monday in the BBC's Bargain Hunt.

Her competition CV includes spots on The Weakest Link, Hard Sell and Scottish Passport.

Ms Beattie, from Livingston, said: "I just get bored and want to apply for the shows. I'm not interested in being in the audience, though – it's so much fun being on camera."

The fanatic revealed that part of her ambition to get on Bargain Hunt was to meet its presenter Tim Wonnacott (pictured below), whom she described as the "perfect gentleman".

She said: "When we first met him, he greeted us by our names. He had done his research, which was lovely."

It was back in September that Ms Beattie applied for the BBC show, which sees two teams, red and blue, attempt to make money at auction. The duos are given 300 each and have one hour at a fair – which Ms Beattie attended at Ingliston – to buy items they will later put up for sale.

Filming finished in December, with an auction house in Glasgow used for the final, nail-biting part of the show.

Ms Beattie was joined by her friend Ellen Brownlee, also from Livingston, in the blue team as they took on two firefighters from Bathgate – but she refuses to reveal who won.

She said: "I won't spoil it for viewers – they'll just have to watch on Monday morning."

Ms Beattie's gameshow debut was seven years ago when she appeared on STV's Scottish Passport with her late partner Bert Dakers.

Although the pair were defeated in the programme, they returned home with two portable CD players – which Ms Beattie says she is still unsure how to work.

Two years ago, she and a friend signed up to the BBC's Hard Sell game show, which saw them go head-to-head with another female team, selling unusual items in Glasgow for a day. They lost

She said: "It was hysterical as we had a whole day with our own film crew."

One of her most memorable appearances was in March last year when she was selected from a pool of applicants to form part of a Weakest Link team, being driven to London's Pinewood Studios in a limousine.

She said: "Unfortunately I was voted off first, but it was tremendous fun. Anne Robinson was a genius – all her gags are completely off the top of her head. Nobody even gets to meet her beforehand – she just appears out of the darkness."