First he was bitten by a snake – and now he’s bitten the dust. Former Montgomeryshire Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik lost his second election of the year when he was booted out of the I’m A Celebrity jungle.

Mr Opik, who was defeated at the General Election in May, became the second star to leave the camp last night after spending 14 days with other celebrities. Mr Opik said: “It feels really strange to be out.

“There’s a real sense of team spirit in there so I’ll miss them but I’ll see them in a week so it’s not too bad.

“The experience exceeded my expectations in a good way. I now know I can survive the jungle. Secondly, I know I can survive in times of relative hardship and thirdly, I’ve never been bitten by a snake before!

“I could have easily done this experience for a few more days. I feel good about what I learned and I didn’t want that to end.

“If you go into this like I have, you learn so much.”

Following his departure, Mr Opik was greeted by his latest love, 21-year-old North Yorkshire drama and politics student Merrily McGivern.

She insisted their relationship was rock solid, despite Mr Opik having had a number of high profile relationships.

She said: “I am not immature, nor am I going out with Lembit because he is famous or for his money. I’m not into the celebrity culture.”

She described the politician-turned-comedian as a “gentle, sensitive, intelligent and caring man”.

Mr Opik said being bitten by a snake had been tough. He said: “I didn’t scream.

“The one thing I found out about jungle wildlife is that I was afraid of snakes – I thought it was a rubber mat. I couldn’t believe a snake had bitten me – so I’m not afraid of snakes any more.”

He refused to tip a winner and said: “I’m not going to make that judgement.”

During his time in the camp, Mr Opik failed to wow his fellow contestants with his wit. He was also the butt of several jokes, because of his fondness for younger women.

Aggro suggested that he “could see Lembit settling down with Kayla, we know he gets the younger girls”. But Dom quipped: “Kayla’s bit old for him.”

Mr Opik faced the Celebrity Chest with Kayla, but she later said there was: “Absolutely 100 per cent no chance whatsoever that I would ever in a million years date Lembit.”