TV Times - Oh Miss Porter, What Did You Do?

The first thing you notice about Gail Porter is how tiny she is - her close fitting outfit emphasising the slenderness of her 5ft 4in frame. And you can't help wondering how such a waif-like TV presenter managed to create a major storm in the newspapers.

But then Edinburgh-born Gail, 27, did take her clothes off for a men's magazine and the sight of her bottom covered in baby oil caused a furore.

Gail refuses to apologise for her well-publicised nakedness. She loved the photos and can't understand what all the fuss was about. 'Jennifer Aniston's been naked on the cover of some mag- azines and Tim Vincent took his clothes off for a magazine while we were doing Fully Booked and nobody said a word. I do it and there's a national outcry!'

It was a reaction she hadn't expected, putting it down to bad timing because only weeks earlier fellow kids' presenter, Blue Peter's Richard Bacon, had been sacked in a drugs scandal. 'I got upset about upsetting people,' she admits. 'But it was a case of it's done now and I certainly wasn't going to worry about it.'

It didn't do her career any harm, either. After two years of presenting mainly children's programmes she was suddenly offered grown-up prime-time work, landing jobs on C5's The Movie Chart Show and Not Melinda's Night In. She was tipped for everything from The Big Breakfast job (she had a screen test) and taking over when Zoe Ball leaves Live and Kicking (not true), to a comedy role on Babes in the Wood (she's had a meeting with the producers).

But despite all the offers, Gail is quick to deny that getting her kit off was a calculated career move. 'I didn't go along to the studio with the intention of doing these shots but when the photographer suggested them, I thought "Why not?" It wasn't like it was for Penthouse.'

She doesn't believe the pictures alienated her from young viewers who relate to real people like herself. 'I was stopped in the street the other day by a young girl who wanted to be a TV presenter,' she says. 'She then started telling me her boyfriend problems as if she knew me. People talk to me as if I'm the girl next door, which I am.'

And a very successful neighbour at that. Her rise to fame since moving to London only two years ago has been meteoric and the fulfilment of a lifelong dream. 'I always wanted to be famous,' she says. But for someone who wanted it so badly, success has come as a complete surprise. 'The funny thing is I tend to think that it's just my mum and grandpa watching me doing something I really enjoy,' she says. 'I never imagine that other people will be interested in me. That seems quite insane.'

Not surprisingly, then, the recognition factor has been quite a shock, too. 'If people stare at me in the street I tend to think I've got my jumper on inside out,' she smiles. 'And if they come over and talk, I just go red and start knocking things over.'

When she's bumped in to someone famous, she can't resist phoning her friends and her mum to tell them about it. 'I was at the National Television Awards last year when Matthew Kelly came over and said he liked Fully Booked,' she says. 'I ended up telephoning my mum from the party and telling her about it.'

Her mum, Sandra, is back home in Edinburgh, along with younger brother Keith who's just returned from building schools in Tanzania, and her grandad Horatio whom Gail adores. But visits are tinged with sadness.

Her grandmother, Mary, died of cancer just over two years ago and shortly afterwards her parents split up, although Sandra and Gail's dad Craig still work together running a building contractors. 'I adored my gran and I really do miss her. Thankfully, she saw me present my first show.'

Her gran certainly would have been proud of her. But Gail's success is the result of hard work and she admits to being a control freak -one reason she lives alone in a one-bedroom flat in London's West Hampstead and sees no reason to have a boyfriend.

Despite being linked to fellow presenter Tim Vincent ('rubbish, I haven't seen him for months') there's been no man in her life for two-and-a-half years. 'I can't cope with relationships. I'm just too busy,' she says. 'Most of the time I can't rely on myself, so the last thing I want is someone relying on me.'

Still, she's not lonely. She reckons her Furby is the best company - although even he's let her down recently. 'He's stopped talking so I've got to take him back to the shop!'

The Furby seems to have fulfilled any maternal feelings because she says she has no plans for children. 'People say I'II change but I'm too selfish,' she says. 'I've got so much to do, babies don't really interest me.'

Being busy, though, doesn't mean her life is all parties. She says it's really just one long round of work and gym. 'I'm a gym- aholic,' she says. 'I go every day but I'm not anorexic. It annoys me that I have to defend myself against accusations like this as anorexia is a terrible thing.'

As for news stories of her having a wild time every night, forget it! 'I've seen headlines like Gail's Wild Nights Out, but the reality is that most of the time I'm surfing the Internet, e-mailing my friends and watching EastEnders.'

But to totally believe this image would belie the fact that there's more to Gail than meets the eye. There's a hint of wickedness which comes through when we discuss her nipple ring.

'Would you like to see it?' she asks as she reaches inside her top and, with a deft movement, flashes her breast with its tiny silver ring.

'It was a bit painful getting it done,' Gail says, tucking her left asset back into her tiny top. 'But now the only thing I have to worry about is not fiddling with it in public, as I'm sure people would start to wonder what I was doing!'