There is nothing more delightful than watching people make complete fools of themselves.

Maybe that’s just me, but nevertheless it does make for a great night of entertainment.

Monday nights on the Lifestyle channel have become a must-see viewing event for me; I even have reminders set into the TV guide so I don’t miss it.

As the opening credits roll in, a sense of excitement overcomes me as I ponder whether I will be treated to some projectile vomiting, a bit of hair pulling, or maybe – if I’m lucky – some shameless debauchery in the pool.

No, it’s not a televised special of Britney’s home vids … it’s Ladette to Lady.

If you cast your mind back to 2006, you will remember a true gem of broadcasting history in the form of Australian Princess, where they took a group of Aussie bogan lasses and tried to turn them into princesses.

It taught us all a valuable lesson: Even a pig farmer could be a princess. (Although how a diamond-studded tiara has a practical place among the pigs is a question that remains unanswered.)

Anyway, Ladette to Lady takes the Australian Princess concept and runs with it … far, far away.

The show takes Britain’s most revoltingly debauched girls – for whom binge drinking, casual sex and general hedonism is a way of life – and through a term at England’s famed Eggleston Hall Finishing School, aims to turn them into upper-class ladies capable of socialising with the rich and moderately famous.

Under the tutelage of the likes of Rosemary Schrager (of Two Fat Ladies fame) and the iron-maiden headmistress Gill Harbourd, these young mingers are taught important tasks such as flower arranging, etiquette and how to lay a table (and by lay, I mean put knives and forks on it).

At the same time, they are given little tests to see how well they are doing, including meeting some of Britain’s most eligible bachelors. This often offers the most tantalising bits of ladette fun, because pour a bit of sauce down their throats and the slapper within comes roaring out, no matter how many canapés they have been forced to gobble down earlier in the day.

Some highlights of the season so far have included:

• The first time most of the girls tried oysters, one actually gagged for a good two-minutes before gobbing it into a bowl.

• When they were allowed to go out to the pub for a bit of freedom. Freedom in this case included drinking the bar dry, with one girl having a very dainty chuck on the floor of the pub, several of the girls pashing on with random strangers and two spewing in the bus on the way home, which they were forced to clean up the next day … hilarious!

After all this has happened, the best is still to come. When the “experts” (or the three-pole-up-their-nether-regions staff) tell each of the girls individually how naughty they have been or how disappointed they are, you will find yourself screaming: “You sent them to the pub! What were you hoping for!”

At the end of the episode, you will find yourself in fits of laughter, thanking God that you are not one of them and setting a reminder for next week to ensure you don’t miss a minute.

The series is partway through now, with only four girls remaining. My personal favourite is Holly the 5’-nothing dole-bludger who could make the downstairs crowd at the Wharf Tavern rush to confession.

— NATHANAEL COOPER