TV fame beckons for Pauline Prescott

Pauline Prescott (pictured), the wife of the oafish former deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, is being courted by television companies following her appearance last week in a BBC2 documentary about her husband and the British class system.

Reviews for the programme, Prescott: The Class System and Me, focused on the warmth and the wit of 68-year-old Pauline who, apart from the odd appearance at party conferences, has studiously kept herself out of the public eye. Tiger Aspect, the company that made the series, said her performance had prompted approaches from other TV companies.

Daisy Goodwin, the producer known as the "Queen of Lifestyle television", whose successes include How Clean Is Your House and Too Posh To Wash, felt that mainstream presenting jobs beckoned. She said: "If I owned the rights to Blind Date, I'd sign up Pauline for it. She is warm-hearted and sassy and would appeal in the same way that Cilla Black did. Or I'd get her to do some programmes about MPs' clothes and their style, as she is somebody who obviously cares about looks."

The best moment in last week's broadcast came when Pauline and Prescott visited the Tory peer the Earl of Onslow at his stately pile. Spotting that his flies were undone, she said: "How do you tell a lord his zip is down? You can't, can you? Shall I curtsey first and then tell him?"

Television executives will be watching to see if she puts in an equally strong performance in the second episode, which is shown tonight. They are unlikely to be disappointed, claims the Sunday Times. In the programme, Pauline, who was a hairdresser before she married Prescott, continues to set herself apart from her husband's beliefs. "You don't have to stay in the working-class bracket," she says. "You can move on." She also says she's not against private education, saying: "You always want the best for your children."