I only did Take Me Out for all the free dresses, insists model Shahira

Model Shahira Barry (21) has said it was fashion rather than passion that inspired her to take part in TV3's dating show Take Me Out.

The brunette, who has just completed a shoot for a UK lads mag, raised eyebrows when she appeared on the show this month despite her day job as a model.

However, Shahira, who was invited to Hugh Hefner's Playboy Mansion last summer, explained that the dating show was filmed long before she established herself in the modelling industry.

And showing off her free clothes was the model's main reason for appearing.

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"I got free dresses from 10 stores around Galway, so I had it in my head that, if I wore one dress, I had to wear another on the next episode," Shahira said.

"I wanted to show off each dress, so that's why I kept going with the show; it was more fashion than passion."

Shahira, who is still "free and single", was not looking for love on Take Me Out despite scoring a date with a professional boxer.

While her date "seemed nice", the romance did not go beyond the TV3 studios.

Shahira says she was dreading the airing of the show after her modelling career took off, but she has not received any negative feedback from taking part in the programme, which is presented by radio DJ Ray Foley.

"At the time, I thought I had nothing to lose. Last year was the first time that my face appeared anywhere.

"Before that I was completely unknown; I had just finished college and I went with some of my friends for a laugh."

Despite being a qualified primary school teacher, Shahira is concentrating on her growing modelling career and breaking into the performing arts.

She spent last summer in LA, where she was invited to one of the famous Fun in the Sun pool parties at Hugh Hefner's playboy mansion and she will return to LA next September.

She is also just back from London and is hoping to do more work overseas in the future.

"I'm just back from my first job in London, where I did a shoot for one of the biggest lads mags over there, and I have got management in the UK, so everything is going well," she said.

"I love acting, dancing and singing, so I'd definitely love to break into the entertainment industry."

While Shahira has done many lingerie shoots, she does not want to limit herself to glamour modelling and has her sights set on carving out a career in the performing arts.

"I am with a casting agency and my manager is helping me to break into the acting industry, so fingers crossed," she added.