'My love of crispy rolls got me from TikTok to TV'

Kira McCaffery has always had dreams of a TV career.

The 20-year-old from Glasgow started making YouTube videos when she was at primary school.

But it is the newer platform TikTok that has clicked her closer to her goals, her videos catching the attention of BBC Scotland's hit reality show The Agency: Unfiltered.

And her love of a Glasgow-style crispy roll sealed the deal for the aspiring actress.

Kira - or @iamkirawithnoe if you're on TikTok -is unapologetically herself on her TikTok account, posting videos about her life as a history and theatre studies student at Glasgow University.

Her 16,000 followers can't get enough of her chat about fake tan, fashion, nights out and the occasional nod to Czech history.

And her regular critiques of her favourite lunch seem to have got her noticed.

"Crispy rolls – it always makes me laugh," she tells BBC Scotland News.

"Who doesn't love them? I love my grub and I get excited about food I enjoy. So I share my excitement with TikTok.

"People have loved it and just gelled with it."

Kira is one of six influencers chosen to compete in an Apprentice-style competition run by Scotland's largest influencer agency, Aquarius Creative.

Along with fellow Scottish content creators Ryan, Toni, Livi, Erica and Aicha, she competes for the chance to be given a contract with the agency in the new series of Agency: Unfiltered.

Kira says being selected for the show could be a huge breakthrough for her.

"My mum and I, we really liked the show. We watched the first two series and my mum said to me, 'How can we get you on this?'.

"I forgot about that and one day, when I was working in my part-time retail job, I got a message through Tik Tok from the programme. I ran to the staffroom and called my mum and we were screaming."

Kira's aim is to ultimately become an actress, finish her degree in 2026 and build her following. She believes she can do it all thanks to the support she gets on social media.

"I have created a wee community of young girls my age," she says. "I've been told that through their messages and they say I make them laugh.

"So I am trying to encourage girls to be confident and if I can help someone with that, it makes me feel good – life is too short not to do that.

"It's definitely a sisterhood of girls like me."

The Agency: Unfiltered has followed the ups and downs of the company over the past two years, becoming an instant hit with younger audiences tuned to the phenomenon of the social media influencer. It has achieved over 1.2 million streams on BBC iPlayer.

The show has also received critical acclaim, winning a Bafta Scotland Award for Best Entertainment Programme in 2024.

In series three, the programme catches up with Aquarius founders Amy Moore and Kirsten Cameron.

The entrepreneurs have built their business representing influencers - people who have chosen to make money out of social media, by posting original content, attracting followers and being paid or sent gifts to promote specific products to them.

Since filming the last series, Amy and Kirsten have progressed from Instagram influencers to celebrities after teaming up with Britain's Got Talent judge Amanda Holden.

They have a roster of top influencers on their books including Scotland's Abbie Blyth and Megan Welsh as well as The Real Housewives of Cheshire star Ellie Egar.

This year, their focus turns to TikTok.

The pair have set up a TikTok Academy as they seek to branch into the video platform.

Amy says: "It used to be that the proportion of budget for influencers on TikTok was very small, but we'd say it's now split 50/50 with Instagram, if not even more on TikTok.

"It's a massive part of our revenue now, so we're focusing on growing that side of the business.

"There's so much incredible TikTok talent out there, no matter the size of following they have. We wanted to find ambitious people, see where they could grow, and guide them along the way."

In a world where it seems every teenager wants to be a TikTok or YouTube star, Kirsten feels many people underestimate how much work goes into being an influencer.

"It's not just about snapping a quick picture in your living room and posting it. You have to think about engagement, link clicks, views—your content needs to stand out.

"And they can get knockbacks quite a lot. Some of our girls will send content to a brand, and the brand will say 'No, we don't like how this is shot.'

"You've then got to go back, get a new creative vision, and do it all over again. It can be a lot."

Series Three of The Agency drops on BBC iPlayer on Monday - where we will find out which of the TikTokers makes the cut.