The Lead Up to the Launch Parties
With a £2,000 budget to launch their shops, the girls get to work planning glitzy parties. Hopes are high for the celebrities they hope will visit the boutiques on the night and names such as Cheryl and Ashley Cole, David Hasselhoff, Jordan, Jools Oliver, Trinny and Susannah and Frank Skinner are put down on the invite list. Can the girls and their party planner Jade pull it off and get the A-list down there on the night? Madeleine suggests her up and coming band Rockerbaby entertain the crowd on the night but Nicola and Julie veto the idea. Nicola says she could persuade former Blue member Lee Ryan to sing in Bows instead and this idea is met with a warmer reception than having Maddy’s band play.
Bows Rule or Bows Rules?
The girls ditch their usual glam wear for head to toe plastic body suits and get to work painting the shops in preparation for opening. Cassie is not too pleased with her new get up as she has just had her hair blow dried and is wearing new and very expensive Christian Louboutin shoes. As the other members of Better Half are late turning up, the Bows girls take the opportunity to stamp their mark on their rivals shop, graffiting Bows Rule on the front of Better Half. Nicola and Julie then debate the grammatical merits of the slogan and confuse themselves by asking if it should say “Bows Rule� or “Bows Rules?�
Team Spirit in Short Supply in Better Half
As Heather is making her way down the M4 from Cardiff, Jadene and Cassie bitch about Heather’s lack of commitment. They have been hard at work in the shops since 8am and there is still no sign of Heather.
Jadene comments “what’s so difficult about sitting in a £50,000 Range Rover coming down the motorway to do something for charity?â€? Cassie retorts “she ain’t done fuck all anyway, I’m sorry, we’re opening the shop, it’s hard work – pull your fucking finger out.â€?
When Heather arrives at 2.38pm she feels the full force of Jadene and Cassie’s wrath.
Heather: I’ve gone away and done this and I’ve come back and I feel like everybody is aiming everything at me.
Jadene: “you have had days off�.
Heather shouts: “don’t aim it at me, Elle’s taken a day off, (to Cassie) you’ve had days off.�
Cassie: “I didn’t take a day off to sit on my arse and do nothing.�
Heather: “are you telling me I sat at home doing nothing�
Cassie: “I’m not saying that so don’t make it sound like I was.�
Heather: “so don’t make it sound like I am. I’m not going home to sit on my fucking arse and doing nothing.�
Cassie: “Heather, I really think you should shut up now.�
Heather: “Oh Cassie why don’t you shut up.�
The argument continues even though Heather tries to draw a line under it and start afresh. However, Jadene won’t let it go and proceeds to mimic Heather’s “huffing and puffing� actions causing Heather to run off crying.
Eventually the argument blows over and Heather and Jadene make up. Off camera Jadene confesses she would prefer to be on the other team. Could we have defection on our hands?
Security Guard Idol
As both shops interview for a security guard, unsurprisingly, Elle and Charlotte get their UK geography confused.
Elle: “I always think Newcastle is in Scotland.�
Cassie: “Well Charlotte thinks Kent is in London!�
Charlotte: “Well it is nearly�
Cassie: “It’s huge, it’s a big fuck off county!�
Charlotte: “That’s like saying Aston Villa is not near Birmingham…..� to which the girls all burst out laughing.
The Pressure Gets to Bows
As new stock arrives in Bows the girls have a disagreement over some pink items Nicola has supposedly ordered.
Michaela: “I’m embarrassed, I’m not putting that in the shop. Not a chance.�
Nicola claims she didn’t want any of the items and the argument escalates as Michaela accuses Nicola of not putting in any effort to the shops.
Nicola is indignant. “You’re having a laugh, how dare you say I haven’t done anything.�
Julie: “I’ve got enough stresses at home without coming here and having stress here – I’m getting fed up with it. I don’t need all this shit behind it.�
Launch Party Fever
The launch parties go with a bang with some of the girls partners turning up to support their other halves.
Jermaine Defoe on Better Half: “Yeah it’s really nice, I’m impressed definitely, she’s (Charlotte) been talking about it from day one.�
Marc Bircham on Better Half: “Ahh she’s (Jadene) done average, nah she’s done excellent, she’s done really well. You’ve been working hard ain’t ya baby, I’ve not seen her for a week, it’s been brilliant!�
Paul Gascoigne turns up to support friend Julie Phillips and heads straight for the chocolate fountain and the donuts downstairs at Bows. With his mouth full, Julie asks him what he thinks:
“I was told by me mam not to speak with me mouth full. I’ve met many donuts in me life but none as daft as this one!�
Bobby Zamora on Bows: “The party’s gone really well, good turn out, a few nice faces to see, for me I was pleased to see Gazza.�
Steve Sidwell on Bows: “Great turn out, the place looks fantastic and there’s no damage done yet….�
That is until the last guests leave and Nicola spots that a reveller has weed on the carpet of Bows! Julie also discovers that hundreds of pounds worth of vouchers have been stolen from the shops goodie bags.
The day of the shops opening arrives and the girls attract a steady stream of customers. The battle of the boutiques has begun in earnest – who will come out on top?
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