TABATHA COFFEY MAKES OVER AMERICA ONE SALON AT A TIME IN THE NEW BRAVO SERIES "TABATHA'S SALON TAKEOVER," PREMIERING THURSDAY, AUGUST 21 AT 10 PM ET/PT

NEW YORK � July 1, 2008 � The straight-talking, perfectly coifed Tabatha Coffey lends her sound advice and styling expertise to help desperate salon owners turn their struggling businesses around in the new Bravo series, "Tabatha's Salon Takeover," premiering Thursday, August 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

"Tabatha's Takeover" will follow Coffey, the charismatic former "Shear Genius" contestant and Australian native, as she visits struggling salons in the Los Angeles and New York areas and literally takes over the establishments to whip them into shape. Coffey brings her no-nonsense approach to the salon owners and stylists, all teetering on the verge of collapse and in dire need of her skilled business direction. With just a week to work her magic, can she put these salons back on their feet or is it time for the shops to put up the closed sign for good?

At first meeting, Coffey's distinct personality and wicked comments are jarring, but soon the owners and stylists figure out that in order to be a success in the competitive high-end beauty business, they need to take the savvy and fearless approach that has helped Coffey's own career flourish. Since her start as a salon assistant at the age of 14 in her homeland of Surfer's Paradise, Australia, she instantly fell in love with the field. At 15, she started a four-year apprenticeship program in Australia, and her love for hairdressing grew. Next she moved to London for eight years to continue her training, and has since been working in the beauty field in the U.S. for 19 years.

Coffey takes her training and the training of other hairdressers very seriously, and this passion drives her sincere quest to turn these salons around. Coffey's intensity for the business is clear in her unswerving dealings with the salon owners and stylists, sometimes driving them to tears as her critical eye probes the salons' customer service, cleanliness, professionalism, and overall styling techniques. She will also make her recommendations for which stylists should raise their rates, and which ones should be let go in order for the businesses to get to the next level as high-end establishments. The end results are often dramatic and inspire all those who have come in contact with Coffey to strive for only the best.

The salons Coffey will makeover in the Los Angeles and New York areas include:

Ten Salon � Long Beach, CA

De Cielo Salon � Burbank, CA

Martino-Giovanni & Pileggi � Sewell, NJ

Images Hair Salon � Oyster Bay, NY

Tika Salon � Rockville Centre, NY

"Tabatha's Salon Takeover" is produced by Reveille for Bravo. Mark Koops and Jonas Larsen are the executive producers.

Bravo is a program service of NBC Universal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBC Universal one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production, and marketing of entertainment, news, and information to a global audience. Bravo has been an NBC cable network since December 2002 and was the first television service dedicated to film and the performing arts when it launched in December 1980. For more information visit www.bravotv.com.