THE FRUMP IS FIRED

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The sound of jaws hitting the floor is clearly audible when Lorraine Tighe emerges from her dressing room.

No one says it, but in that split second of stunned silence, everyone in our packed studio is thinking the same thing: "Who is the va-va-vamp - and what has she done with lank-haired Lorraine?"

Not a week went by on The Apprentice without Lorraine's looks being the subject of ridicule. The thick-rimmed glasses, the greasy hair, the outdated outfits all were ammunition for her critics - of which there were many. But, thanks to Fabulous' crack team of stylists and hair and make-up artists, Lorraine, 36, is having the last laugh. But not before she emits a silent gasp as she sees her transformed reflection for the first time. Several seconds pass before she whispers a single word: "Wow!"

She pauses and says: "I don't look like me. I look gorgeous. I look like somebody I'd like to be."

Lorraine may have been dubbed the show's Mystic Meg for her ability to forecast the future, but clearly this is one transformation she didn't see coming.

As she slips out of a gold strapless dress into a pink silk top and slinky black pencil skirt, she shakes her head.

"I can't believe all of this. I feel like a queen. I never had this sort of attention, not even on my wedding day," she says.

She may look unrecognisable, but as soon as she opens her mouth, she's the same Lorraine. Full of energy, she babbles away in her Irish accent rather than the English one she used when stressed on the show (which was pretty much all the time). The only noticeable difference is a vulnerability and a nervousness that's nothing short of endearing.

Lorraine didn't look her best on the show

Mid-shoot, Lorraine glances over to a rail of sexy frocks and says warily: "Do you think they'll look OK?" Easing her toes into a pair of Manolo Blahniks takes forever. "I can't believe I'm wearing these. I don't feel worthy," she says with something akin to awe.

These are clearly the words of a woman whose self-esteem has taken a battering.

"On The Apprentice I looked horrific," she says. "Next to all those other gorgeous girls, I was definitely a one out of 10 woman. Now I'm a 10 out of 10. I can't believe it."

And neither can anyone else. Her once greasy hair is now a cascade of glossy curls, courtesy of hair extensions, and free of the heavy rims, charcoal shadow emphasises her startlingly pretty eyes. But Fabulous can't take all the credit. Since The Apprentice finished filming in November, Lorraine's lost more than 2st and three dress sizes.

Yes, she's been going to the gym three times a week and watching what she eats, but the real reason she's gone from a size 16 to a slim 10 is the stress and subsequent fallout from appearing on the show.

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Facebook hate groups were set up to slate her. Her crime? Simply not being as attractive as the other contestants. In one cruel post, the single mum of two was branded an "ugly b**ch".

"I was alongside a group of particularly pretty girls," she says. "There was Kate Walsh, who was gorgeous, Debra Barr was stunning and Mona Lewis was incredibly pretty. All the girls were slim, lovely and well turned out. Then there was me," she says.

"It didn't cross my mind to buy a load of glamorous clothes for the show as I was too worried about sorting out childcare for my daughters [Lauren, nine, and Alexia, four, by her ex-husband, city financier Theodore Apostolov].

Once the competition started, we'd be woken up at five or six in the morning and given minutes to get ready. I have incredibly greasy hair - I can't function without a shower, but there was no time. Every day my hair was getting dirtier and dirtier, the grease was going into my face and giving me spots. I looked a mess.

"I couldn't work out how all the other girls were managing to look so perfect," she adds. "I didn't know about little tricks, like dry shampoo. Kate would go to bed every night in her make-up so she looked groomed the next day, and Debra would wear £1,000 Armani dresses. I felt like I was trapped in a beauty pageant. I was way out of my depth."

Lorraine is harsh on herself, but her comments aren't as caustic as those made by others. First came the snipes about her hair, then came the separated-at-birth comparisons to Alan Carr. Even Ultimo creator Michelle Mone - usually a cheerleader for women in business - said she wouldn't employ anyone who looked as grubby as Lorraine.

Lorraine was competing with gorgeous girls like Kate (left) and winner Yasmina

"It was so upsetting to read what people said," Lorraine admits. "On the internet people were saying they wouldn't touch me with a bargepole and God help the man who had to sleep with me. It was devastating.

"My self-esteem went through the floor. I was literally crying all the time."

Lorraine suffered further trauma when her relationship with partner Dennis Saterlay, 54, broke down. At the time she needed it most, Lorraine lost her support system. She says that after reading stories about her private life in the press, her strict Catholic family wouldn't speak to her.

One report said she was contemplating suicide, another said she was considering drastic surgery to change her looks. She shakes her head.

"I was very, very down, but I'm a tough, resilient woman," she says. "I knew I had to get out of that low. I didn't want my girls to see me falling apart. I've had a lot of knocks in life and I know it's only you who can pick yourself up and get on."

With daughters Lauren (left) and Alexia

Lorraine learnt these survival instincts as a child. She suffered curvature of the spine and, after a gruelling operation at 15, had to learn to walk again. But her biggest knock came in her adult life when her husband walked out on her and their two kids. She was devastated and her confidence plummeted, but it was this blow that inspired her to apply for the show.

"I was once a really pretty girl," she says. "I had a great career in media sponsorship and I met this gorgeous man when I was 26. At 27, I gave birth to our eldest daughter and became a wife and mother. I forgot about myself and became invisible.

"Then my husband left me two years ago and I hit a real low. I remember taking off my clothes, standing in front of a mirror, and seeing an unhappy, out-of-shape woman looking back at me. I just couldn't work out where the woman I knew had gone."

Lorraine now concedes that putting herself through the stress of the show when she was at such a low ebb was tantamount to masochism. But even though she missed out on the six-figure salary job won by Yasmina Siadatan, 27, she says the experience taught her some valuable lessons in life and business.

"However good I was on a task, I wasn't taken seriously because of the way I looked," she says. "It's not about vanity. It's about self-respect. I've learnt that. If I want to make the best of myself in life, I have to make the best of the way I look.

"Last week I went to Liberty's and spent £570 on shoes and clothes. I've thrown away everything I wore on The Apprentice. From now on, this is the new me."

Lorraine may have decided to change everything about her looks, but there is one thing she won't let go of - her thick-rimmed specs.

She says: "Laser treatment is out for me because I have glaucoma [an optic nerve disease]. I'm blind as a bat without my glasses."

Despite the effect it had on her confidence, Lorraine has no regrets about taking part in the show.

"If Sir Alan had offered me the job with his company, I'd have turned it down because I've learnt so much about myself since doing the show," she says.

"I'm not tough enough, but I am good enough. I'll prove that in the next job I get."

Lorraine is currently looking for a job and wants to work for a charity.

"I'm 36 and a single mum who's been dumped, but I'm not going to be put out with the rubbish," she says.

"I can look great and I want to feel great. I want other women who've been in my situation to know they can change too. I'll never get married again, but I'm more than happy to have a boyfriend if one is out there. Whatever happens, I'm going to make something of my life."

And something tells us not much will stop her now.

HAVE YOU EVER...
Googled yourself? Only recently. It wasn't very nice.
Been arrested? No, but I was once chucked off a plane for being drunk when I was in my wild 20s. I was banned from the airline for life!
Feigned illness to avoid a social situation? All the time.
Gone commando? No, but I'm definitely going to try that one.
Checked the messages on a lover's phone? Yes, on an ex-boyfriend's - and it was good I did. There were two messages. One asked a girl out for a drink, the other was to a girl he'd met. I forgave him. I think my self-esteem was so low, I was past caring.
Lied about liking a terrible gift? An ex gave me a pair of orange earrings for my birthday. I said they were lovely. Now I'd like him to know I thought they were vile.
Told a boyfriend: 'It's me, not you'? In my younger days. Now I'm lucky to get a date at all!

PHOTOGRAPHY: PLANET PHOTOS, FAMOUS HAIR: ALICE THEOBALD AT JOY GOODMAN ,USING LABEL M & BOBBI BROWN MAKE-UP:AFTON AT S MANAGEMENT USING CLINIQUE LORRAINE WEARS DRESS, COAST; BELT, LK BENNETT; SHOES, GINA TOP, FREDA AT MATCHES; SKIRT AND BELT, BOTH LK BENNETT

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