A WEE COUNTY woman is promising drama with twists and turns when she appears on TV starting next week.

Tara Walls, from Alloa, will be one of 17 ladies fighting to win the heart of one lucky man in Channel 5's The Bachelor UK when the show hits the network next Monday, March 4, at 10pm.

It was an opportunity not to miss for the 22-year-old, who spent three months in South Africa while the programme was being filmed.

Not letting the stigma of coming from a small place hold her back, Tara has big aspirations and hopes the exposure will help her achieve her dreams of establishing her brand one day.

And it was not her first rodeo either, as she previously featured in a BBC One reality programme when she was an apprentice hairdresser at Rainbow Rooms International in Stirling at the age of 14.

She was told by producers she was "TV gold" at the time and since had shorter stints on other programmes like Celebs Go Dating.

Tara said: "My long-term goal is probably to do YouTube so I am in control of what I'm putting out there.

"I'm using it basically as a platform, that is the best way to describe it."

She will be the only Scottish born-and-raised contestant to root for and while producers will say she is from Glasgow, Tara reassured the Advertiser she is very much an Alloa girl who now lives in Fishcross.

The show itself will follow the format of the original from the US, but this is the first time it comes to the UK without celebrity contestants.

Hosted by Mark Wright, who Tara commended for having time for everyone, the programme will see contestants on a variety of activities and outings.

And with all the female contestants living together in close quarters, the 22-year-old promises there will be some high drama on the screens.

She said: "We all get out through tasks and challenges to win the heart of The Bachelor.

"There's plenty of drama, I mean there's 17 girls living in one house so you can imagine there's plenty of ups and downs and plenty of emotions flying about the place."

She added the whole experience was "amazing" and that she had a lot of fun in the process, meeting new people and making friendships – perhaps gaining some adversaries.

Tara said: "Not everyone's going to get on. I clash with people on the show – you'll all get to see that, it's going to be exciting."

As the show goes on, even the strongest friendships will be tested as Tara warned: "It's a competition at the end of the day, you can't forget that we were all going there for one goal, so it was very much a love-hate relationship."

She admitted she will be nervous when the show airs, but said it was a "life changing" experience.

Usually very close to her family, Tara like all other contestants were kept isolated from the world outside while the show was being shot, meaning she had to think all her feet to deal with the situations arising.