Telly Talk: Could things be looking up for Lembit, even with his neck loosely in the noose for tonight’s first public eviction on I’m A Celebrity…Get me Out of Here?

I’m not sure he would ever admit it, but there must be a part of him hoping to make it a little further than ex-girlfriend Sian Lloyd, writes Tracey O’Sullivan. Sian was the first to be given her marching orders when she braved a stint in the jungle camp in 2003.

But if the bookies are anything to go by Lembit needs to hope that Gillian McKeith pushes a few more buttons and Sheryl Gascoigne fails to win immunity, because they are the only two saving him from being the first casualty to have to leave the jungle tonight.

Gillian may be in her own little way creating television gold, but pundits say she has pushed it too far to even win a reprieve for her hard work and Academy Award-winning performances. Viewers are desperate to dump her from a great height.

So Lembit could be safe to clean the camp another day, because as yet Sheryl is an unknown quantity in the jungle tasks, but after years of being married to footballer Paul Gascoigne I’m sure she has it in her to tough it out. Something tells me she could be in with a good shot of coming out tops in tonight’s challenge to win immunity – leaving Gillian as Lembit’s only defence.

But even if Lembit does have to face his second ousting of the year, after losing his seat in May’s General Election, there is always 21-year-old girlfriend Merily McGivern waiting for him on the other side of that rope bridge. That should cheer him up.

Although judging by the publicity-seeking pictures and interview she has given today, that could just be the cloud for his silver lining. Take a closer look at the wording where she describes him as a “caring, gentle and sensitive man” and you can see he hasn’t done himself much harm with the jungle adventure. At least she thinks she’s on to a good thing. And she could be right.

His career may not soar from this experience but it certainly won’t nosedive either, and he can probably settle in as a D-List celebrity with aspirations to the C-list. Not too bad for a ditched MP who became a running joke.

After coming across as fairly diplomatic, easy-going and difficult to wind-up Lembit has probably won over more fans than he has lost – even if there weren’t that many to lose in the first place.