Week 1

The ladettes have just 5 days to prepare for their first big test a ‘Fruits de Mer’ luncheon at one of Scotland’s most magnificent stately homes, Manderston where they will meet the eligible bachelors. They will be expected to show off what they’ve learnt at Finishing School so far, including how to tackle sophisticated food with appropriate table manners. The girls first lessons is Oyster eating and the results are disastrous. Army girl Simone returns her half digested shellfish to the table. “It felt like I was swallowing my own phlegm you know?” In the 1950’s it was essential for a lady to be correctly dressed for every occasion. Mrs Brewer asks the girls to show her what they might wear to the end of week task. Unimpressed she asks them to choose from her hand picked selection of clothes. Most of the girls delight in the options but again it’s Liverpudlian, Charlotte Donoghue who causes trouble and refuses to change out of her revealing dress. It’s not a move designed to impress Mrs Brewer who informs her she looks like an, “absolute slut” and that “she can’t go to lunch showing her breasts”. A fight ensues and Charlotte storms off calling Mrs Brewer “a slut” in return. A crisis meeting is called and Charlotte leaves Eggleston Hall, after just 2 days, having learnt nothing. Having missed a whole day of classes the ladettes are ill prepared for the end of week task but still manage to turn the eye of the eligible bachelors. The next day the ladettes face the ordeal of the weekly assessments. One by one the girls must face the staff and account for their performance at the luncheon and in class. Then the first ladette will be ‘invited to leave’ Eggleston Hall and a car is already waiting to take her away. The ladettes get the roasting of a lifetime and one by one their hard façade is stripped away leaving some in tears, and none wanting to be the first to leave.