Scarborough's great strip show auditions look set to continue. Blushing Yorkshire wannabee hunks have proved that when it comes to taking their kit off for the girls, they're more than likely to turn the other cheek.

Caroline Radford reports

"I can't do it - I just can't do it."

And he didn't. Turning on his heel, one of the two prospective strippers marched out of the mirrored gym, failing even to make it to the first interview - despite having trekked all the way from York to get'em off .

After sitting on a pile of rubber mats at Scarborough's Sunset gym watching the other York hopeful being interviewed, the 41-year-old father of five decided it wasn't for him. He fancied being Jesus in the Mystery Plays instead.

Declaring himself to be a good Catholic boy and saying his mother would never live down the shame, he made his excuses and headed off into the bleak Scarborough night.

In the course of our brief conversation he also admitted he was signed off sick with a back complaint and had become increasingly concerned that any wild erotic gyration might be viewed unsympathetically by the DSS.

The second hopeful, Russ, a truck driver from Heslington, refused to have his picture taken in case he didn't make it to the second interview.

He had applied for the troupe because a female stripper friend had told him he'd be 'great at it' and as he says himself: 'I'm always the first to drop my trousers after a few drinks at the pub'.

"I think its going to be harder work than truck driving but a lot more fun," he said.

"And there's something really going on at the back of my brain which says I could do this and make a good job of it."

So is this the kind of raw talent that Alison Aitchison and Tina Breckenridge, who make up Gorgeous Promotions and are launching their own male strip troupe in North Yorkshire to cash in on the fallout from The Full Monty, were looking for?

After talent spotting in the pubs and clubs of Scarborough, Alison admits this isn't the first time they've encountered the problem of 'all mouth and no trousers'.

"We handed out dozens of cards to men, who said they were keen to audition but none of them turned up," she said.

"And its been the same with the newspaper ads - we've had a good response but we've also got a high drop out rate."

But despite the crippling shyness of the Northern male, Gorgeous Promotions have managed to come up with a core group of four definites - although they are still looking for a couple more.

"There's no specific type we're after, as long as they've got plenty of personality and a little bit of rhythm we can work on the rest," said Tina

"We want to get away from the plastic look that some of these groups have.

"We're looking for down-to-earth Northern lads, who will respect the women and be able to make them feel special.

"Our boys will be able to dance with the women and make the women look good - not lie on top of them or do anything humiliating - we don't want our audiences worried about having their clothes ruined with baby oil and shaving foam.

"We've got a core of four lads already, who are brilliant and they'll do whatever it takes to make it - we like to work with people like that."

Whatever it takes includes building up muscle in the gym, religiously applying fake tan and buying contact lenses - and Alison and Tina admit they have changed some to their own ideas as the auditions have gone on.

"We don't have a name for the group yet," she said.

"We were going to call it Lethal Weapon - but that doesn't seem so appropriate any more."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.