ITV I'm A Celebrity's Lembit Opik cruelly taunted by DJ for over a decade after Cheeky Girls scandal

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Former I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here! star Lembit Opik split with his fiancé Sian Lloyd back in 2009 and she later accused him of having an affair with The Cheeky Girls singer Gabriela Irimia behind her back

Lembit Opik cruelly taunted by DJ's for over a decade after Cheeky Girls scandal

Former Liberal Democrats MP and I'm A Celebrity star Lembit Opik has confessed that he was taunted by pub DJ's during the height of his career ITV show helped pull him out of a deep depression after he lost his seat to the Tories in the General Election in 2010.

Following his split from TV weather forecaster Sian Lloyd, Lembit embarked on a romance with Gabriela Irimia - one half of kitsch Romanian pop duo The Cheeky Girls. Gabriela, now 41, appeared on the reality talent show Popstars: The Rivals back in 2007. Along with twin sister Monica, she rendered the judges speechless with Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum).

Following Lembit's split from Sian, the TV star came out and accused the politician of cheating on her with the Cheeky Girl. Back in 2012, Sian told Evening Standard: "His affair is like something out of a pantomime. They've been together for two months and I called off our engagement a couple of weeks ago, so you do the maths.

"I found out about it from a mutual friend. Lembit was the great love of my life - I would never have agreed to marry him otherwise. But evidently he just isn't capable of an adult relationship. He's fond of soundbites and celebrity. I feel more sorrow than anger towards him. I was in bed getting my beauty sleep when he was out chatting up his Cheeky Girl."

Sian Lloyd and Lembit Opik split in 2009 (

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Following the controversy, Lembit revealed that he was taunted by pub and club DJ's for months on end. Speaking exclusively to The Mirror, the former I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star confessed that everytime he would walk into or be spotted in a pub or club, DJ's would immediately play a Cheeky Girls song - something which got very old very quickly for him.

"I had a reputation of being the geek who thought the Cheeky Girls wanted to go out with me, and that was about it. Every time I went into a bar during that time, within minutes, Touch My Bum would start playing - and it wasn't a coincidence. It still happens to this day with nine out of ten DJ's. They just can't seem to let it go."

It comes as Lembit also confessed to The Mirror that appearing on I'm A Celebrity helped pull him out of a deep depression after he lost his seat to the Tories in the General Election in 2010.

The former politician felt privileged when he was the first ex MP to be invited to join the line-up, which included Stacey Solomon, Alison Hammond, and Playboy model Kayla Collins. When he was approached by ITV bosses to join the show, Lembit was in a dark place after his political career crashed and burned following the General Election, and unbeknownst to him at the time, appearing on the iconic show would ultimately bring light back into his life - despite the initial backlash by the public who weren't at all impressed by the idea of seeing him in the jungle.

Lembit with his girlfriend, Cheeky Girl singer Gabriela Irimia (

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PA) Sian accused Lembit of cheating on her (

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Speaking exclusively to The Mirror amid the ongoing controversy after ITV bosses decided to ban politicians from this year's lineup, Lembit confessed that back in 2010, he was briefly the most unpopular politician in Britain at the time. However, appearing on the show made him 'less unpopular' and allowed the British public to see his real personality for the first time.

While Lembit's charismatic persona in the jungle immediately gained him popularity not just among his campmates but also viewers at home, deep down, he was fighting a dark personal battle. After losing his seat in parliament, Lembit descended into a dark place when all he had ever known as taken away from him in the blink of an eye.

"Appearing on the show really did me good. At the time, I was the most unpopular politician in Britain. I came out less unpopular, so it did a lot of good for me. I got some backlash, some people found it uneasy that I wasn't as serious as I always seemed - but that was the real me. The British public is much more generous than people think. I didn't go in with a clever strategy, maybe I would have done better if I had, but when I came out, the world was kinder to me than I went in, and I believe other politicians in my position deserve that opportunity too.

"I never worried that being on the show would hinder my career because at that point I didn't have a career anymore. I was really down and out and drifting when I went into the jungle. I had a very dark couple of years after I lost my seat as an MP because it was never planned and it was never something I saw coming. The light in that darkness was definitely the time I spent in Australia in the jungle, and the opportunities I got after it. However, after it all, I descended into a period of great depression actually again. I never worried that it was going to do me harm, but I was curious what it would be like to be in the jungle.

Lembit Opik was the first politician to appear on I'm A Celebrity back in 2010 (

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"Honestly, it was a real pleasure to be asked, because I never thought as myself as a celebrity or to even have that status. Overall, history tells me that I did the right thing by going on the show and I learned quite a lot about myself as well. I'm not a natural celebrity, people like Alison Hammond and Stacey Solomon - they absolutely nailed it and they have defined their entire career's based on that and on their personalities, but that didn't come natural to me at all."

Lembit's charismatic persona in the jungle made him a popular choice for TV bosses for further reality shows. He followed up his I'm A Celeb stint with countless more TV appearances, most notably on Come Dine With Me, Bargain Hunt Famous Finds and Celebrity Juice. Now, he's setting his sights on a Big Brother stint.

"The great thing about not being a politician anymore is that I now don't need anyone's votes anymore -unless I go into Big Brother. I'd love to do that show, but they have never asked me. My door is always open for that opportunity."

Lembit Opik was speaking to the Mirror on behalf of Instant Casinos .

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