STV sports presenter Sheelagh McLaren reveals wedding plans
TV SPORTS presenter Sheelagh McLaren is about to blow the fulltime whistle on her days as a single girl.
Gayle Ritchie
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The new face of STV's Sports Centre is getting ready to tie the knot with fiance Michael Baillie.
She beamed: "I'm having the time of my life - I've got a challenging career and I'm getting married to the man I love.
"It's a crazy time and everything seems to be happening to me at once. I sometimes have to pinch myself to make sure it isn't a dream."
Sheelagh, 32, met Michael, a freelance sports reporter, at a press conference three years ago.
The couple kept bumping into each other at football matches and it soon became clear there was a deep mutual attraction. They started dating and got engaged in June last year after Michael, 35, popped the question while they were on holiday in Rhodes.
Sheelagh said: "It was a big surprise and really romantic. It was our second anniversary and we were on holiday celebrating.
"He proposed in the apartment as he was scared he'd lose the ring if he took it anywhere - and he picked it himself. He really blew me away."
The wedding, at Fingask Castle in Perthshire, is planned for July and the couple have invited 120 guests.
They chose the venue as it boasts extensive grounds, gorgeous views over the River Tay and is close to Sheelagh's family in Dundee. The lovebirds will then jet off to California on honeymoon.
Sheelagh is remaining tight-lipped about her dress and even Michael doesn't know what it looks like.
She said: "It's a secret - all I'm saying is that it's traditional."
Most of the outfits she wears on TV have to be businesslike so when our stylist dressed her for our photoshoot at Motherwell's Fir Park ground, Sheelagh was bowled over.
She said: "I don't normally wear clothes that are quite so glamorous so it was a lovely change. The red dress was absolutely stunning and I loved the shimmery top and trousers. I'm only 5ft 2in so I loved putting on the super-high heels. I felt like a real princess."
Getting to the top of the tree in sports journalism wasn't something that Sheelagh had ever imagined.
She has always been a football fan and her dad, Danny, encouraged her to support Dundee United. But rather than pursue her main passion, science whizz Sheelagh studied for a degree in biochemistry.
But, halfway through her course at Dundee University, she realised it wasn't the career for her.
"I didn't like being stuck in a lab all day, and I couldn't see myself doing it for life," said Sheelagh.
"Science was my best subject at school so I just did the degree that suited me at the time. I graduated, then went travelling and spent a year in Australia, where I took time out to get my head together. When I came home, I knew I wanted to get into journalism."
She did a postgraduate degree in broadcast journalism at Bell College in Hamilton then got a placement at Kingdom FM before moving to Radio Clyde. She still works five days a week for Clyde and landed the STV Sports Centre job, alongside Gerry McCulloch, in March.
Her dream is to interview disgraced golf ace Tiger Woods.
She said. "I'm sure he would have some stories to tell and I've got a few questions I'd love to ask him.
"Another favourite is the former footballer Paolo Maldini. He's very good-looking and has so much charm. He'd be amazing to interview."
Catch Sheelagh on STV Sports Centre on Fridays at 10.35pm.
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