On a night out with Britain’s sexiest sports presenter, will Maxim score a beauty or be shown the red card?

A Page Three girl at the age of 17 (‘I was too short to do respectable modelling!’), Gail McKenna has been brightening up our TV screens for a while now, presenting sport for L!VE TV and playing Barry Grant’s girlfriend in Brookside. Now getting steamy on Channel 5, with a regular spot on Live And Dangerous and also as the presenter of Sports Week, we’re sure you’ll agree the 30-year-old beauty makes footie a damn sight more sexy than Des Lynam ever did…

OK, I know you’re married – but just say we were going out on a date together, would you be ready when I turned up, or would you leave me waiting in the hall for hours? On a first date I’d definitely be ready. If I really liked the guy then I’d be ready and eager, and if I didn’t then I wouldn’t be making much of an effort, so I’d still be ready anyway.

Would you dress to impress? I’d probably wear something quite sexy, a dress or a skirt. If I was really into him and if there was a lust thing, you know, like shagging later on was a possibility, then I definitely wouldn’t wear trousers. I don’t know if I’d go for the full tits-out job, but I’d probably go for something tight. But I don’t think I’d have loads of flesh on display.

Would you want him to take you to a restaurant or would you offer to cook for him? No I wouldn’t do that, it’s all too stressful. I’d want to go to a romantic restaurant. But if he wasn’t flush, the cantina next door would do.

Have you had any really awful dates? The worst without a doubt was a blind date. I’d spoken to him on the phone a couple of times, and he had the most gorgeous French voice. Then I turned up and this guy was 6ft 11in – he was a giant! I’m small, so it was horrendous, and apart from that he was totally up his own arse and drunk. It was awful.

What’s the best date you’ve had? My first date with my husband was quite nice, actually. We ended up in London’s Bar Italia till about four in the morning, drinking loads of cups of coffee and eating cake. We were there so late because we just didn’t want to go home. It was lovely, he was such a gent.

OK, enough about the hubby – we’re on a date! So what could a guy do to spoil the evening? If he got really pissed, that would be awful. Or if he started spouting politics and bullshit.

What do you get like when you’re drunk? I talk a lot of rubbish or I fall asleep or start feeling ill, which is the worst. Then I just sit there and say nothing. I did go out a couple of weeks ago with some girlfriends. We were drinking vodka shots and everyone else was fine, but I threw up in the toilets all night.

What sort of thing would you want to avoid talking about during the date? His ex-girlfriends. One guy, the first thing he said was, ‘My girlfriend’s left me and I feel like I’ve lost my right arm’. And I wouldn’t want to be asked how many people I’d slept with, because I’d have to lie.

OK, assuming the evening’s gone well, would your date get a kiss from you at your door or would you invite him in? I’d probably invite him in. He wouldn’t stay the night, no way. But I hate, ‘Do you want to come in for a coffee?’ It’s such a cliché.

What else can you say? ‘Do you want to come in for a shag?’ God no! What is nice, though, is if they don’t expect to come in and then you’re not in that situation anyway. I think it’s cool if the guy can just drop you off, give you a kiss and say OK, I’ll give you a call tomorrow. It’s good if he can be strong enough not to jump on you.

If he was so great that you did ask him to stay the night, would you kick him out in the morning? If I woke up with someone there, the first thing I’d want to do is crawl to the bathroom. I’d check I didn’t have mascara down my face or red wine stains on my teeth. And I’d want him to go fairly soonish.

So do you have any bizarre habits that a man should know about? Not really, except I’m dead messy. That’s probably it. I’m a nightmare for just leaving things lying around on the floor.

What would a guy need to do to get your phone number or a second date? Um, it’s not really something you do. It’s if you’ve sparked with someone.

Have you ever given anyone a fake phone number just to get rid of them? Oh yeah, I’ve done that. But I’m more brutal these days. If I go out with girlfriends and some bloke is constantly pestering us, I’m not scared to say, ‘Fuck off.’