Melinda Messenger says she is thinking of moving back to her home town.

"We so totally miss Swindon that we are seriously thinking about coming back," said glamour model turned TV presenter Melinda, who is married to Wayne Roberts and has three children, Morgan, seven, Flynn, five and Evie, three.

At the moemnt the famly live near Newbury in a house they have redeveloped themselves.

"I judge things by popping in for a cup of tea distance' and we're too far away from many of our family and friends for that," said Melinda She puts her longing down to the fact that she didn't move out of the immediate area until two years ago, at the age of 34.

"Once your roots are down it's hard dig them up and put them down somewhere else," said Melinda, a former pupil of Dorcan School, where she gained 11 GCSEs.

Family and friends are very important to Melinda - which makes her an ideal front person for the Chilli Tuesday campaign (see panel).

It is supporting Barnardo's, a charity close to her heart.

She considers it a real privilege to be in a position to back fund-raising and awareness campaigns for charities, with Action Aid and Kidscape (which deals with bullying) also being particulary important to her.

Another reason she may return to Swindon is that while her mum has moved to be with her, her eldest brother Warren is still here.

"He wants us back," said Melinda, who became an aunty when Warren, 37, and his girlfriend Hayley had son Maddison in December last year.

But while she and Warren have stayed close to their roots, youngest brother Jamie, 32, has quite literally flown the nest - he's a paragliding pilot based in Nepal and the US.

Her closeness to family means that unlike previous years, she won't be doing pantomime this season.

"I thought about it and I was quite tempted but my work has to fit in around the children," she said.

"In the past we could all up sticks and go together but because they are at school now, we can't do that.

"I appreciate my job and career and I'm very grateful but it has to come second to family."

Not that she hasn't been busy.

Apart from her charity work, she is appearing in the BBC1 property series To Buy Or Not To Buy and has a programme involving the Eden Project in Cornwall coming up with ITV.

And she and Wayne have also been involved in property development, renovating up to 10 houses in the past eight years.

The experience should come in handy - along with her property show knowledge - if they decide to start house-hunting in Swindon again.

CHILLI TUESDAYS

Melinda is turning up the heat with Uncle Ben's, Barnardo's and LoveFilm to encourage friends and families to get together once a week, over a meal and a film, for a good cause.

"Chilli Tuesdays is all about raising money to help improve the lives of some of the country's most disadvantaged kids," she said.

"As the nights draw in, I can't think of a better way to spend the evening than a mid-week family get-together, enjoying great food and a movie."

With two sons and a daughter it's hard to find a film which suits all tastes but the family has solved the problem by taking it in turns to choose.

The Home Alone and Jurassic Park movies are favourites, particularly with the boys, but while Flynn, five, loves King Kong, Evie finds it too scary.

"When it's Evie's turn it's always The Little Mermaid," said Melinda.

As for the food, although Melinda likes chilli, she doesn't serve it too hot and, as a vegetarian, would use veggie mince.

  • Visit www.chillituesdays.com to vote for your favourite film food moments and for every person who signs up to a month's free trial with LoveFilm, £10 will be donated to Barnardo's.