"One's Got Alopecia. One's Pregnant. Only In Ireland."

Maybe I should be ashamed to admit this, but I thoroughly enjoyed the RTE series 'The Model Agent', which wrapped up last night. Honestly, I didn't realise our national broadcaster was capable of such standards of reality television. Of course a show like this is never going to appeal to everybody but few could dispute that it was a very well-produced programme.

I particularly liked the music used throughout the series and thought the format of the show was a refreshing alternative to the 'Next Top Model' set-up. Erin O' Connor and Fiona Ellis were great anchors and both came across as grounded, likeable despite both having carved out careers in a notoriously vapid, bitchy industry.

Despite the fact Ellis' insistence that she wanted to find modelling talent in a way that would avoid "all the drama" that forms the basis of the 'Next Top Model' series, the show threw up some brilliantly bizarre sequences of events.

I don't wanna say too much in case people fancy watching the series on the RTE Player or on this here Youtube channel but the drama of the last episode, in particular, made for some of the most entertaining homegrown 'reality TV' since Nadine Coyle's now legendary revelation in 'Irish Popstars'.

Incidentally, I recently learned Sinéad Sheppard from the now defunct Irish pop-group Six that was formed as a result of 'Irish Popstars' is attempting to launch a career in politics. The Cobh native is vying for a place on Cork County Council as a representative for Fine Gael.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

[Images: RTE and Last.FM]