SWINDON'S Melinda Messenger loves her home town so much she cannot tear herself away.

The former Page Three girl has admitted she considered moving closer to London for work but could not bear to leave Wiltshire.

She was speaking to the Advertiser as she prepares to start filming for her latest TV job.

"We had been going through the process of saying should we move closer to London," said Melinda, who lives near Purton.

"We almost did it, we started looking at houses but I just can't do it. We are far too lucky in the area we are in.

"Wiltshire is far too beautiful to leave. I couldn't tear myself away."

Melinda, 34, is about to start work presenting a new series of Beat The Dealer, an ITV West show which features members of the public taking on Bath-based antiques dealer David 'Rolfey' Rolfe to see if they can make more money than him at auction. And the job is perfect for antiques addict Melinda.

"It is a hobby of mine anyway so when they approached me I said 'absolutely yes,'" she said.

"I go around scouring antiques shops anyway so for me it is a great show to get involved in. It is a bit of a treat.

"My dad was always interested in antiques but I always wanted everything modern.

"As I have got older I have gone against everything modern. We have got an old rectory and it really needs older furniture to make it work. I think there is so much more character in older pieces.

"We have been everywhere looking reclamation yards, shops, markets, we have even been to Paris scouring the markets for lights and chairs. Wayne drove over in a van and we literally filled it."

But is packing the family home with expensive antiques a good idea with three young children around?

"They are quite calm but I am careful where I put things," she said. "We have got a big family room where we spend most of our time and that is full of toys.

"Flynn, who is three, does have a thing about pencilling over everything. We did have a nice antique chair which he drew all over, but that is kids."

And, despite the vandalism, Melinda still wants more children, even though husband Wayne is not convinced.

"I am very keen, Wayne isn't so keen, so the jury is still out," she said."I still desperately want to adopt and foster."

Melinda's last TV appearance came in a party political broadcast for the Labour Party, which she said she was pleased to take part in.

"I have always been a supporter," she said. "Alistair Campbell called and said would I be part of the campaign. It is something I am passionate about so I was happy to stand up and encourage people to get out and vote.

"When I voted I was in a very Conservative area and I thought they might trip me up on my way in, but they didn't."

Melinda has a couple of other programmes in the pipeline and says she definitely sees her future in TV work with glamour modelling part of her distant past.

"There is a time and place," she said. "That goes down with the wild nights in nightclubs I am glad I did it but glad it is in the past.

"I am a regular on the Wright Stuff on Channel Five and there are other bits and pieces happening later in the year.

"It is great."

Beat The Dealer will be screened on Sunday evenings starting in early September.

Isabel Field