This much I know; Pamela Flood

I never planned to get into modelling or presenting.

I was a middle of the road-ish child, not particularly outgoing and not particularly shy. I needed a push to try modelling.

I worked in Bank of Ireland for a while before I got spotted in my local nightclub, Cocos in Tallaght, by Valerie Roe who ran nightclubs and came from that whole world, which was like another planet to me. She persuaded me to enter a beauty contest and that started the ball rolling and lead to me entering Miss Ireland, which I won.

There was no history of showbiz in my family, my mother worked in a pub and my father worked in Dublin Corporation. My parents were a little unsure when I decided to go into modelling full time.

Most people know me from my time presenting the clothes show Off The Rails on RTÉ with Caroline Morahan. It was the most fun job I’ve ever had and I have great memories of that time, mainly because I got on so well with Caroline who has great energy and is just brilliant to be around. On a Monday morning at our 9am meetings the rest of us could be a bit grumpy but she’d have us all in stitches.

The show was all about looking your best and although I loved it and do enjoy fashion, I’m not a very glamorous or frivolous person, I’m actually very down to earth.

I have to fess up to being very messy. And, unless I’m going out somewhere, I certainly don’t dress up.

My earliest memory is dancing to the Bee Gees on the radio in the kitchen at home.

My best beauty tip is never smoke and if you do, stop right now. I smoked for years and the improvements to my skin were massive and immediate once I quit.

I met my partner Ronan Ryan at the wedding of mutual friends Dylan and Lottie Bradshaw in the south of France. We clicked immediately.

If I won the Lotto I’d pay off all our debts, throw an amazing party and then do something sensible with whatever was left over.

When I was modelling, we used to get told about any open auditions that were going. I heard that RTÉ were looking for continuity announcers. That’s how I got my break into television.

Work has always been either a feast or a famine for me. Things have been quiet for the last few years which is a blessing really as I became a mother to Harrison almost two years ago.

Your priorities shift when you become a parent. What you deemed important before falls away. Now, my priority in life is to have a happy family. Prior to that, life was peppered with moments of happiness — with my partner or from work — but now, I’m happy every single day just because Harrison is here.

My biggest challenge has been losing my mum, but at some stage you just have to accept it has happened and try to overcome it. Time really is a great healer and bad times will happen but, they don’t last forever.

I’m not a very disciplined person, I’d like to be a better time manager but I don’t beat myself up about it either. My routine is based around my baby’s.

Swimming used to be a big thing for me and when I was pregnant I took it up again as a way to keep fit and relieve tension.

I’ve always been a night owl. Even now, although I’m bug-eyed by 9pm. I want to stay up until midnight watching television.

My advice to anyone who wants to get into modelling or presenting is don’t take no for an answer — if you have some talent and you are sure it’s what you want.

Pamela Flood is guest speaker at the ball for the Brothers of Charity Autism Services on , April 6, in Carrigaline Court Hotel, Co Cork. Tickets are €55 for a drinks reception, Frank Sinatra tribute band, dinner and auction. Contact 021-4347087.