'It was love at first sight' insists Lembit's Cheeky Girl

Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia said today her relationship with flamboyant politician Lembit Opik was "love at first sight".

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The 24-year-old pop star said she was very happy and was looking for a long relationship with the Liberal Democrat MP, who recently ended his engagement to TV weather presenter Sian Lloyd.

And although the oddly-matched couple met at Channel Five's All-Star Talent Show two months ago, she insisted the affair had been platonic until the last two weeks.

Romanian Gabriela, who forms one half of Cheeky Girls pop duo alongside her twin Monica, told GMTV: "Everything is true - all I can say is it was love at first sight."

On their first meeting after the TV talent show, "we were talking for two hours and the time flew", she said.

"Our first date was to the Science Museum - very romantic actually. I didn't go to the Science Museum before, so I found it quite interesting to have a first date there."

Flanked on the GMTV sofa by Monica and mother Margit, Gabriela said the 41-year-old Montgomeryshire MP was "very smart, very intelligent, very attentive and he always buys all three of us chocolate".

And she insisted: "We did know each other for two months, but we didn't actually go out together until two weeks now. It was very platonic at the beginning, we had long chats on the phone but we didn't meet very often."

Of Mr Opik's six-year relationship with Ms Lloyd, she said: "I don't know Sian, I only saw her on the TV, she's a very attractive woman.

"I can understand her situation because everybody who came out of a really long relationship would be hurt but I'm sure she will be happy."

The Lib Dem spokesman on Wales and Northern Ireland, tipped by some as a future party leader, has also won the approval of the Cheeky Girls' mother.

Margit Irimia, who is the pop duo's manager, said Mr Opik had been "a little bit scared of Cheeky mum" when he visited the family home, but that he was "a very nice person" and had won the approval of their dog, Rocky.

And sister Monica said: "I'm so happy for my sister, she's never been so much in love, she's never had a proper boyfriend, she's dreamy."