I'm attracted to Cheeky Girl for her intellect claims MP Opik
Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik revealed today just what attracted him to a Cheeky Girl pop star who is 17 years his junior - her intellect.
In his first interview since he split from his fiancee, television weather presenter Sian Lloyd, to begin a relationship with 24-year-old Gabriela Irimia, Mr Opik, 41, said: "She [Gabi] challenges me intellectually... Our relationship is not based on lust; it's primarily a relationship of intellect, a meeting of minds, and that I find really interesting and attractive."
Mr Opik, the Lib-Dems' frontbench spokesman on Northern Ireland and Wales, is pictured with Ms Irimia across eight pages of this week's edition of Hello! magazine in a variety of poses and outfits at a Welsh hotel close to his Montgomeryshire constituency.
The magazine describes how they 'snuggled up together, held hands and stole kisses' during the interview.
Mr Opik denied having dumped Ms Lloyd, who is twice Ms Irimia's age, to date the Romanian-born pop star. He insisted it was Ms Lloyd who had ended their relationship on 23 October and that his friendship with Ms Irimia - who with her twin Monica rose to prominence with the hit single The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) - had been platonic until last month.
Ms Irimia, in the same interview however, accepted that on 13 October when they first met at a party they swapped telephone numbers and then talked on the phone until 3am.
Mr Opik claimed he only truly fell for Ms Irimia, who enlisted the MP's help amid fears she and her twin might be deported to Romania, at a Motor Neurone Disease Association annual ball in London on 27 November.
"We spent a lot of time talking that evening and we went dancing.
And something just 'happened' to make me interested in Gabi as more than just a friend," he said.
He described colleagues and friends as 'very supportive' before admitting they still sing The Cheeky Song whenever they see him in Westminster. But he said he was confident the mocking would eventually stop.
"I think that in time the media will overcome their concerns about the age gap.
"That kind of thing is not an issue - you look at the person, not the birth certificate. Besides Gabi is emotionally very mature," he said, adding he had been hurt by some claims made in the press which he described as 'ludicrous'.
Asked if Mr Opik was her first 'true love', Ms Irimia replied: "I hope so."
She said she found Mr Opik similarly interesting and enjoyed his sense of humour, describing him as a gentleman who was very protective.
Ms Lloyd, however, is less impressed by Mr Opik. In an interview over the preceding seven pages of Hello!, she said: "I'm feeling good and I'm feeling very relaxed. And I guess one of the reasons I'm feeling so good is that Lembit is no longer in my life."
Ms Lloyd, 48, said she first suspected Mr Opik was seeing someone else was when she tried to phone him from her father's hospital bedside - he was gravely ill - and Mr Opik did not answer her frantic calls.
She described her ex-boyfriend as a 'risk taker', adding somewhat wistfully: "Now I realise that maybe I wasn't cherished in the way I perhaps should have been."
