Now there’s been no shortage of female admirers for former Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Opik, writes Tracey O’Sullivan. Yes it’s a mystery to me too but I did think his decision to take a trip to the jungle might shed some light on the subject.

But we are five days in and I’m afraid I just can’t see it. Maybe I am missing something but so far the man has proved to have a particularly ungentlemanly streak.

Yes, Gillian McKeith has come across so badly that we are delighted that her job involves rummaging through human waste, but when Lembit won his challenge the other night his eagerness to leave Camp Sheila starving was rather unseemly, as was his lack of concern at the Queen of the Freak- Out’s fainting fit. Even though sneers Ant and Dec managed to feign some sympathy.

Then there’s the lack of culinary skills, and if we were hoping for scintillating conversation I get the feeling we’ll have a long wait – and a boring one at that. Nigel Havers may have branded it “contrary dialogue”, but it is simply the kind of patter likely to win favour with the most incurable of insomniacs rather romantics.

Although to give Lembit credit for something at least he has exposed Nigel Havers as falling short of the smooth-talking charmer he would have us all believe he is.

His lack of patience with anyone i nthe camp, but particularly Lembit, is not that attractive either.

Poor old Lembit was just merrily whittling away a piece of wood with his knife, happy as pig in muck and keeping out of trouble for once, only to fall foul of Havers camp rage.

Accusing him of blunting the camp’s only knife in yet another tense stand-off, I warmed to Mr Opik – well, it was more a tepid liking, but definitely an improvement – as he remained calm in the face of what appeared to be an unnecessary attack.

And he also remained in control as Linford Christie regressed to his playground days to indulge in some childish teasing. “You’ve been told off, you’ve been told off,” he chimed, proving himself the athletic rather than the academic of the jungle.

“He was MP and for 13 years, I don’t know how he was elected,” fumed Havers. But at least he was elected. More points for being annoying go to Mr Havers for being the self-proclaimed “I’m better than everyone else” camper claiming he had not had an intelligent conversation in days.

He might be right but there was something unseemly about the way in which he sat there seething at everyone. It’s only been five days – get on with it. Who is to say anyone particularly finds Mr Havers interesting? That’s if they ever get a chance to try in between those outbursts.

Showing off some of that political diplomacy Lembit must have acquired over the years he dismissed Havers pretty easily last night and refused to rise to the argument, keeping a calm tone throughout.

I may have been hoping Havers was going to go a couple of rounds with Lembit, but now I’m thinking it would be much more fun if Lembit continued to wind him up and watch him go – in that kind of way where the bigger person, in more ways than one, stands back with a hand on his attacker’s head and just holds him at a distance while he repeatedly swings a punch which never has a chance of landing.

Now that kind of sophisticated behaviour could win Lembit a few extra fans and go some way to explaining his way with the ladies.