[Amy]

This was in The Mirror today...
SHE's got the looks of an exotic dancer, sounds like a Bolton trucker and has a reputation as a beer-swilling ladette - but Melanie Sykes is to become the golden girl of TV.

In the absence of pregnant Davina McCall, ITV have picked the 32-year-old former Big Breakfast star and model to host two new primetime Saturday night shows, The Vault and Under Pressure.

The move follows the success of her lunchtime chat show, Today with Des and Mel, and indicates how far she has come since appearing in the Boddingtons beer ads.

Back then, in the mid-nineties, she was just another attractive girl, albeit one with a strong Mancunian accent, looking to boost her C-list profile.

Mel, whose mum is from India, was constantly photographed in various states of drunkenness out on the town with a succession of celebrity boyfriends.

Now, she's married with a baby, hosts an award-winning programme with Des O'Connor, has even given up booze and cigarettes - and is set for the big time.

Not bad for a girl who once claimed: "I'm not ambitious and, ideally, I don't want to work."

Liam Hamilton, the brains behind the Des and Mel show, said: "She's a very talented woman and works really hard. In this business, the harder you work the luckier you get.

"A year ago I don't think Des and Mel would be an obvious pairing. You never know how things are going to work out, but it's been brilliant."

The pair attract 1.5 million viewers each day and have won a Royal Television Society award for Best Daytime Show - ITV's first in that category and Des's first ever. The current run of Des and Mel comes off air soon, but will be back in the autumn and the pair have just signed another year-long deal, taking them to summer 2004.

The Vault is a live general knowledge quiz which offers contestants the chance to scoop £100,000. In Under Pressure a celebrity will stay with a family and then perform a challenge - if they succeed, the family wins. Both will be screened in the autumn.

Mel, however, does not want to overdo it, according to friends. One said: "Mel's keen on spending time with hubby and baby. She's not looking to be like an Eamonn Holmes, who takes everything offered."