Gail Porter paid tribute to her Scottish heritage as she appeared as the Grand Marshall of the 25th Annual Tartan Day Parade in New York City on Saturday.
The 52-year-old TV personality looked in good spirits as she wore a blue and green kilt with pleated detailing and a dropped hem at the back.
She wore a black plunging top underneath a matching coat, which she left open.
TV presenter Gail wore a pair of quirky knee-high black lace-up boots and shielded her eyes behind dark sunglasses.
Gail could be seen smiling, mouth open, as she waved her hands in the air and showed off the body art on her arms.
Scottish style: Gail Porter, 52, paid tribute to her Scottish heritage as she appeared as the Grand Marshall of the 25th Annual Tartan Day Parade in New York City on Saturday
Leading the way: The TV personality looked in good spirits as she wore a blue and green kilt with pleated detailing and a dropped hem at the back
Sharing a picture of herself attending the event on Instagram, she captioned her post, “Fun day to be the Grand Marshall at the Tartan Day Parade in NY!”
The annual Tartan Parade in New York features whistles and drummers honoring the contribution Scots have made to the United States of America.
Held on 6th Avenue in town this year, it was the centerpiece of the Tartan Week calendar.
Former Grand Marshals of the Tartan Day Parade include actors Karen Gillan, Brian Cox and Sam Heughan, singer KT Tunstall and comedian Sir Billy Connolly.
Ahead of the event, she said: “I’m going to be the Grand Marshal, which is a bit discouraging because you have about a couple of thousand people behind you.
“When I got the call asking if I wanted to lead the parade, I was like, ‘Are you kidding me? Nobody will know who I am.
“At least I won’t twirl a baton. It’s hard enough for me to walk in a kilt.”
It comes after Gail was revealed to be directing a series of stand-up comedy shows dealing with her alopecia, mental health issues and homelessness.
With style: She wore a black top with a plunging neckline under a matching coat, which she left open
Fashion forward: TV presenter Gail wore a pair of quirky knee-high black lace-up boots and shielded her eyes behind dark sunglasses
Good mood: Gail smiled as she waved her hands in the air and showed off the body art on her arms
Fun in the Big Apple: She shared a picture of herself on Instagram attending the event and captioned her post: “Fun day to be the Grand Marshall at the Tartan Day Parade in NY!”
Special Occasion: The annual Tartan Parade in New York features whistles and drummers honoring the contribution Scots have made to the United States of America
She will launch her stand-up career from August 2nd to 28th at the Edinburgh Assembly Rooms as well as shows across the UK.
Her routine will talk about how she went from being a children’s TV presenter to posing nude and seeing her nude picture beamed onto the Houses of Parliament to having a dissection, being diagnosed as bipolar and insomniac.
The former Top of the Pops and Big Breakfast presenter, who was once listed by FHM among the sexiest women in the world, said: “I’m super excited to be coming to Edinburgh. I’ll be stand-up seven nights a week.
“I don’t know if it’s a midlife thing or whatever but I was offered it and I thought why not?
“I’ll do a few small gigs around the country beforehand to test the material. I’ve always wanted to do it and I’ve written a lot.’
She continued, “I think if you’ve been through some pretty tough times and you can turn it into humor, other people can relate to it. “The material will be about my life.
“I take things that were pretty bad and talk about them in a way that’s pretty funny and that I hope can help people.”
Gail was married to Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave, with whom she has a daughter, Honey, 20.
Event: Held on 6th Avenue in the city this year, it was the centerpiece of the Tartan Week calendar
Throwback: Former Grand Marshals of the Tartan Day Parade include actors Karen Gillan, Brian Cox and Sam Heughan, singer KT Tunstall and comedian Sir Billy Connolly
Speaking of which, ahead of the event, Gail said: “I’m going to be the Grand Marshal, which is a bit disheartening because there’s about a couple thousand people behind you.”
Delighted: When I got the call asking if I’d like to lead the parade, I thought, are you kidding me? No one will know who I am,” she joked (Peifer pictured).
The couple separated in 2004 and divorced in 2006 and after their split things got out of hand and Gail was left homeless.
A year after the breakup, Gail lost her hair to scalp alopecia, and because she didn’t want to wear a wig on TV appearances, work dried up.
At the same time, Gail was struggling with the breakup and finding out her mother had cancer.
In 2007, Gail wrote about her hair loss story in an autobiography, Laid Bare: My Story of Love, Fame and Survival.
Then, in 2011, she was dissected and diagnosed as bipolar after her then-boyfriend Johnny Davies raised concerns for her well-being.
Unfortunately, she became homeless in 2014 and slept poorly for a year because she couldn’t afford to pay the bills or her rent as she wasn’t working.
Gail slept on park benches on Hampstead Heath, but she didn’t ask for help because she was embarrassed.
She eventually turned to her family and friends for support and joined Celebrity Big Brother in 2015, managing to use the fee to make a lump sum deposit.
She described it as a scary time, explaining that she refused to give up and that being Scottish she was “tough as old boots”.
Ex-love: Gail was married to Toploader guitarist Dan Hipgrave (pictured in 2001) with whom she has a daughter Honey, 20, but they divorced in 2006 and she was going through a tough time
Speaking to The Sun, she revealed she’s still worried about her finances due to the cost of living crisis.
She said: “Everything seems to be going up and up and people are worried about not being able to pay the bills.
“I think most people spend about 80 percent of their wages on rent, bills and everything else.
“I still get nervous when I’m like, ‘Okay, I’m fine, I’m on a level,’ but because I’ve been there before and I know so many people are struggling, at every point I think it everything could go very wrong.’
Happier: Gail has previously spoken out about her mental health, insisting it’s much better these days and that she’s lucky to have her daughter Honey (pictured together in 2019)
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