Column: Embarrassment to proud Yorkshire folk

I've always felt proud to come from Yorkshire. We're tough, kind, and down-to-earth people without an air of snootiness or pretentiousness between us. That's why people love us the world over, because we are '˜normal', decent folk. Or so I thought, until I heard the story of Sarah Louise Bryan, who invoiced a fellow parent after her three-year-old daughter's £325 designer boots were scratched during a play date. What an attention-seeking numpty.

The ‘fashion designer’ hit the headlines after she billed a fellow parent following damage to her child’s red Italian fur booties. Wakefield-based Ms Bryan, 28, later sent the other mum an email that read: “So [my daughter] has just come home from her playdate with your child and I am disgusted to see her new Italian leather shoes are all scuffed and have a Sharpie mark on them. Below is the bill for these replacing because they cannot be fixed these are fine Italian leather!”
Why she thought it was a good idea to buy her daughter such expensive boots in the first place is beyond me. But then to have the audacity to bill the other mother for damage is just plain daft. Children play. They pick up crayons and felt tips and scribble. They play in the mud. Hell, some of them still climb trees, and these same children come home filthy. That’s what they do – it’s in the job description. They are children, not a fashion accessory. Describing herself as a “designer, actress, blogger and public figure”, fashion expert, Bryan first hit the headlines when she made two outfits – one from Skittle sweets, the other from pubic hair (she even asked for donations over social media). Yes, you read that last bit correctly. She also appeared on Channel 5’s Tattoo Disasters. The words ‘publicity’ and ‘hungry’ spring to mind. But just when you thought it was as bad as it could get, Yorkshire-folk go and hide behind the sofa because I present you with our other ‘media starlet’, pug-nosed, Leeds-based ‘model’ Josie Cunningham. Josie’s been a little quiet of late, but perhaps that’s because the muM gave birth to her fourth child in October last year. Newspapers claimed she’d wanted to live stream the birth of the baby but ditched plans after suffering a painful labour. She even broke her phone when she allegedly threw it against the wall. Yes, apparently it was that serious. But joking aside, where do all these people come from? Is there a hidden factory that churns them out? If so, please shut it down, because as a proud Yorkshire lass they make me want to go and hang my head in shame.