19 July 2005
BelfastTelegraph
Former boyfriends of Ulster model Orlaith McAllister are staying loyal to the Big Brother babe despite tempting tabloid offers to dish the dirt, it emerged last night.
Several men who have been romantically linked with the north Belfast woman have been offered thousands of pounds to spill the beans on the 26-year-old, who survived eviction from the Big Brother house last Friday night.
Orlaith is hot favourite to be booted out this weekend and the Sunday tabloids are planning to run lurid stories about her.
But they're having difficulties persuading her ex-boyfriends to deliver the goods.
One former beau, who did not wish to be named, said last night: "I got a telephone call from a Sunday tabloid offering me two grand to say stuff about my relationship with Orlaith. I told them to go and get stuffed.
"Apart from the fact that we only had a brief relationship, I'm not the type to do that sort of thing on anyone.
"And even if I was, I've just applied for a new job and I don't think that seeing my name in the tabloids would help the application."
High profile exes of Orlaith's include former Belfast Giants ice skating star Curt Bowen, ex-Linfield defender Ian Young, who now plays for Carrick Rangers and Calum Best.
Meanwhile, Orlaith has revealed that her saucy behaviour may have cost her more than her position in the house.
In a teary confession to Big Brother, the blonde model said she believed her ambition to become a teacher was in jeopardy and that school principals may not want to employ a boob-baring, self-confessed Playboy wannabe.
Orlaith has landed herself in hot water with local politicians and church leaders for her X-rated antics on the show, which include allowing people to grope and suck her naked breasts and wandering around the house semi-naked.
Fern Turner, regional officer for the National Association of Teachers, agreed that the very public sexual behaviour of the former convent girl may have endangered her prospects of working with children.
"In teaching, we need good role models, we need people who are prepared to put children first and we need people who are willing to think about how they are presenting themselves to children," she said.
"That doesn't mean that teachers have to be whiter than white but it is a matter of respect and how individuals view themselves and this is a big issue in this case."
However, executive member of the Irish National Teacher's Organisation, Mary Cahillane, said there was no reason why Orlaith could not forge a successful career as a teacher.
"I think she is being judged a bit too harshly by a very conservative society.
"I can't see why she wouldn't make a great teacher - it is a profession that requires people with all sorts of qualities and Orlaith has shown she is extremely shrewd and resourceful to have stayed in the house this long," she said.
