SAY what you like about The Apprentice (first series) "reject" Saira Khan, but I like her.

And she's certainly doing a lot better for herself than other contestants - including winner Michelle Dewberry and runner-up Ruth Badger (and definitely Syed Ahmed).

From being best known as a gobby thorn in Sir Alan Sugar's side, she's emerged as actually quite likable and a capable TV presenter.

We saw just how far she's come in last night's Saira Khan's Pakistan Adventure, part of the BBC's line-up marking the 60th anniversary of the independence of India and Pakistan.

The very fact that she'd been chosen to front the hour-long show was testament to how she is now taken seriously as a TV personality, rather than just another reality TV also-ran.

In it we got to see Saira's fascinating journey around the country from which her parents migrated to Nottingham before she was born.

Although her presenting skills did seem a tad amateurish at times, this somehow seemed charming, and gave us a flavour of the country we probably wouldn't have got if a more seasoned traveller had been at the helm.

Particularly touching were her encounters with transvestites, orphans and the inmates of a woman's refuge camp. Compelling stuff.