Add a soupcon of infighting, a pinch of stress and a dash of ambition, bake it in the pressure cooker of competition and the result could be the next authority on home living.

The next domestic diva might look like Martha Stewart; or it might be a man; or a black woman from Oceanside, if Margo Leidigh survives the elimination process of a new TV reality series that begins airing tonight.

"Wickedly Perfect," a search for the next great stylemaker, premieres at 8 tonight on CBS. Leidigh, one of 12 contestants, is a 40-year-old divorced single mother of three whose real-world occupation is purchasing supervisor.

The program marks Leidigh's second TV run. In February 2003, she worked on "The Glass House Project," a segment of interior designer Christopher Lowell's show, which ran on the Discovery Channel. Leidigh was one of two women confined in a 330-square-foot glass structure set up in a Santa Ana mall, where the public could watch their progress as they used the previously undisclosed contents of piles of boxes to transform the space into a fully decorated room.

The rules of participation in the "Wickedly Perfect" program forbid Leidigh from discussing any aspect of the series, which includes a diverse group of contestants from across the country. However, Leidigh's mom, Marguerite Brady, speaking by phone from her Las Vegas home, was happy to talk about her youngest daughter.

Brady said Leidigh had been in a program for gifted students in school; that she caught on quickly to new ideas and concepts; and "she was a lot of laughs."

"As a child she would say, 'Mom, you should do it like this. You should arrange it like that,'" Brady said. "Even as an adult, she'll rearrange (my) things. But she'll wait until I leave the room."

And the proud mom, who cared for Leidigh's children during the weeks she competed on the show, added, "She can get into the kitchen and throw a meal together from nothing."

Diane Ekeblad, CBS spokeswoman, said the motto of the "perfection-obsessed" contestants is "Anything you can do, I can do better."

A "Wickedly Perfect" contestant will be eliminated each week, based on how each handles the competition in different areas —— including decorating, party planning, gardening, cooking, baking, sewing, crafts and floral arranging. The background for the elimination process is a "luxurious estate" in New England.

The call for applications went out in March, and the cast was finalized in September, Ekeblad said. The goal was to find somebody who had tremendous creativity and skill and who would be able to communicate that to an audience, she said.

The challengers —— or perfectionists, as they are called —— include an art studio owner from New York City; a Home Shopping Network host from Florida; a first-grade teacher from Texas; a homemaker from Los Angeles; a professional baker from Dana Point; a product designer from Chicago; a professional caterer from San Francisco; and a carpenter from Florida. Ages range from mid-20s to mid-40s. There are three men in the group.

Ekeblad declined to say how many potential contestants had applied for the show, but explained the criteria by which applicants were judged.

"We were looking for somebody with the whole package," she said. "Some people had strengths in one area or another, but we were looking for people who had multiple strengths. It had to be someone who can adapt, adjust if thrown a curve, to be unflappable, do it with elegance —— grace under pressure."

Prizes will include six appearances on "The Early Show" on CBS, a development deal for a lifestyle-oriented TV show and a publishing deal with Atria Books, a division of Simon and Schuster.

"Wickedly Perfect" is hosted by Joan Lunden, formerly of "Good Morning America." The judges are chef/restaurateur and cookbook author Bobby Flay, stylist David Evangelista, and Candace Bushnell, author of "Sex and the City," which spawned the hit cable TV series of the same name.

Contact staff writer Agnes Diggs at (760) 740-3511 or adiggs@nctimes.com.