But with strokes of good fortune which have followed her throughout a glamorous and varied career, Patience went on to find success in front of the camera when Vogue signed her up at 14 after seeing her face splashed on billboards in London's Oxford Street as part of a Miss Selfridge fashion campaign. This was despite the fact she had so-called bad skin and had stopped growing at 5'4" - two obstacles which resulted in the Co. Down woman being told she wasn't "modelling material" six weeks into a 12-week modelling course with her first tutor.

From then on, the only way was up and Patience - formerly Patti Lawrence - won a place with the Top of the Pops dance troupe, Legs and Co., which earned her national recognition and a huge male fan-base.

"We were very like the Spice Girls - we were all very different looking and each guy had his own favourite and would queue up for autographs," said Patience. "People thought you were on television for three minutes a week, but we worked six days a week and were rehearsing three songs. It was hard work."

Visitors to a forthcoming fund-raising PTA 'Ladies Night' at Portadown College this month will have a chance to hear more of Patience's extraordinary life which has included teaching aerobics, studying for a diploma in psychotherapy - and receiving Honours, despite the fact she has dyslexia - living with Raynaud's and Scleroderma disease and working as an ambassador for Voluntary Service Belfast.

Today, she still fits in a considerable amount of television and commercial work and organises her own tailor-made fashion shows and 'Elegance and Glamour' courses from her home in Holywood.

At the special College event on Thursday, September 18, Patience will takes aspects of her 'Elegance and Glamour' course and give tips on modelling, hair, skin care, make-up, diet and exercise, as well as interview techniques. There will also be audience participation through the generations - a teenager, mum and grandmother will be stage models for the night for various demonstrations.

In addition, there will be a scarf demonstration - "You will be amazed at what I can do with a scarf!" - and as a finale, Patience's pampered pooch, long-haired chihuahua Mary Rose, will make an appearance on the catwalk and show why she became the nation's first celebrity model dog.

"Mary Rose is just the most amazing dog," said Patience. "She is always being booked to open events and one top London hotel, which I won't name, even cordoned off a section of the restaurant to give her breakfast!

"I don't know how Mary Rose became such a famous dog model, apart from the fact she is very, very pretty and has an amazing personality. She is friends with Simon Cowell and has met Paris Hilton.