Kathryn McLaughlin (25), who now lives in Leicester, was one of five finalists in the contest Runaway Bride which has a 'Challenge Anneka' style theme where the remaining two contestants have to get as far away from Leicester as possible with only £100 continguency money, a mobile phone and little else.

The bride-to-be's mum Tricia McLaughlin contacted the Herald in a bid to drum up support for the only Scot in the competition – and the paper placed a notice on the website to try and get as many votes as possible – but unlucky Kathryn did not reach the last round.

The former Bearsden Academy pupil said: "I was pretty pleased to get this far as I reached the final five out of hundreds of entries.

"It was great to get the support that I got but I think my downfall was that although I have great family up here, I just have my partner and a few friends down in Leciester whereas the other girls in the competition had a huge family base down there."

Kathryn now plans to have a traditional Scottish wedding at Forest Hills, Aberfoyle, in June, 2009, and admits that now she can have the wedding that she really wanted.

She said: "With the competiton, the venue was laid out for you and everything else whereas now I can choose the venue, band and dress that I want."

Mum Trisha said: "I think she did really well and she tried her best — that's all you can really do."