I want to be a role model says Tallafornia’s Nikita
SHE famously caused mayhem in the first series of Tallafornia – but don’t expect the same fireworks from Nikita Murray when the reality TV show returns in October.
This year, the action moves from Tallaght to a €4million villa in Santa Ponsa, the resort that has welcomed Irish holidaymakers for decades.
But while many of the cast engage in the usual drunken debauchery, Nikita swore off alcohol during filming.
She said: ‘I realised I had more craic when I was sober and I just wanted to show young people that you don’t have to drink to have a good time.
‘You can’t really prove a point if you’re still going to have one or two so it’s all or nothing.’
Nikita’s decision was made after watching herself in the first series of the TV3 show that attracted audiences in excess of 300,000.
She said: ‘There’s loads of young people that kind of look up to you and I just want to be some sort of role model.
‘Whereas before, I admit, I wasn’t the type of person that should be a role model whatsoever.’
Nikita, 19, is joined by her housemates from the first series: Jay Abbey, 30; David Behan, 26; Cormac Branagan, 30; Kelly Donegan, 23; Natalie Geraghty, 21, and Philly Penny, 27.
Marc O’Neill, a 27-year-old former soldier from Ballymun, is new – and he has been at the centre of friction.
Marc will be introduced to viewers in a scene where he strides out the pool naked. ‘The warning this year is that Tallafornia contains nudity, strong language, sexual content – and Marc,’ producer Dara Tallon joked.
Inside the Tallafornia villa, cameras mounted on the ceilings and high on the walls have captured all the action, especially in the love shack room.
Love it or loathe it, Tallafornia looks set to be one of the new season’s biggest talking points yet again.