Lara Bingle’s reality show becomes ratings hit

Melbourne: Lara Bingle, whose biggest claim to fame was an ill-fated relationship with Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke, seems to be commanding an audience for just “being Lara” in her reality TV show ‘Being Lara Bingle’.

Within the first minute of Being Lara Bingle’s premiere on Monday night, the show’s raison d’etre was determined as “sex”. “I do like sex, though,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying, while explaining that she has sworn off men. “It’s not that I don’t like sex,” she said. To make the point, there are plenty of shots of the model in a swimsuit, zipping up a too-tight wetsuit, confronted with nude paparazzi pictures, and posing in a singlet with no bra, while her gay make-up artist Max frets about a flash of “side boob”. For celebrity credibility there were three mentions of Michael Clarke in the first two minutes., “Your mate Clarkey just got married,” her brother Josh said. The 24-year-old lives in a Bondi Beach penthouse with to-die-for views with her brother and her BFF and one-time manager Hermione Underwood. Soon there is an explanation for why the relationship with Clarke ended so abruptly in 2010, after he arrived home early from one tour too many. “The best thing about living with Hermione and Josh is I’m not lonely any more, and that’s when I stray,” Lara told Max. The endearing thing about her is that no matter how bad or embarrassing things get, she always has a 100-watt smile. Be it Bondi police pulling her over in her Mercedes for driving on a suspended licence or nude paparazzi shots through her floor-to-ceiling bedroom windows, she looks like a girl pinching herself every day because she can’t believe the good fortune of just being Lara. ANI