Mr Opik, the Lib Dem spokesman on Wales and Northern Ireland, recently ended his engagement to TV weather presenter Sian Lloyd.

A Cheeky Girl replaces weather girl - Dec 17 2006
Flamboyant Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik has spoken about the Cheeky Girl in his life after confirming he has split from fiancee Sian Lloyd.

Mr Opik, the party’s spokesman on Wales and Northern Ireland, said his relationship with Gabriela Irimia was "no secret".

But he refused to say much more after making a statement describing weathergirl Ms Lloyd as "one of the brightest, most out-going, hard working and generous people" he had known.

Mr Opik apparently started dating Ms Irimia, 24, one half of novelty pop group the Cheeky Girls, as his six-year relationship with Ms Lloyd, 48, ended.

The 41-year-old MP for Montgomeryshire confirmed in his statement that his relationship with Ms Lloyd had ended "some time ago".

He said: "However, I continue to regard Sian as one of the brightest, most out-going, hard working and generous people I’ve had the privilege to know.

"Sian and I had many happy times together and I will always treasure those."

He praised her work for charity and added: "I hope that she will remember the happy times as we both go our separate ways. I wish the very best for her."

Although he made no mention of Ms Irimia in the statement he later confirmed the new relationship as he arrived at his constituency home in Newtown, Powys, mid Wales.

He said: "Me going out with Gabby is not a secret. I don’t want to be awkward, but I’ve thought about this a lot, and all I want to say is in the statement. I still think Sian is great."

Cheeky Girl not weather girl for MP - Dec 17 2006
A high-profile Liberal Democrat MP has exchanged his television presenter fiancee for a member of novelty pop group the Cheeky Girls.

Lembit Opik, the party’s spokesman on Wales and Northern Ireland, apparently started an affair with Gabriela Irimia as his six-year relationship with Sian Lloyd ended.

ITV weathergirl Ms Lloyd, 48, told the Mail on Sunday the pair had been growing apart and she eventually called the engagement off a fortnight ago.

Mr Opik - tipped by some as a future Lib Dem leader - had been a "barfly" and "party animal", while she tended to stay at home getting "beauty sleep".

But she said she was "shocked" later to discover that Mr Opik had taken up with 24-year-old Gabriela - one of the Romanian twins who make up the kitsch chart act.

Ms Lloyd said: "I wasn’t sure what to do with the engagement ring. It’s Welsh gold and very special to me.

"My instinct now is to keep it. After all, I wouldn’t like to see it on the finger of a Cheeky Girl."

Ms Irimia is said to have met the 41-year-old MP for Montgomeryshire - who has Estonian roots - in October at a party thrown for Channel Five’s All-Star Talent Show.

Mr Opik was playing harmonica while Gabriela and sister Monica were attempting ballet. Neither won.

The Cheeky Girls first came to public attention in 2002 after a notably disastrous audition on ITV talent show the Popstars: The Rivals. They have since enjoyed several hits, including The Cheeky Song (Touch my Bum), which got to number two in the singles chart. It was subsequently voted the worst pop record of all time.



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