Lib Dem in liking a drink shock

It seems that Sian Lloyd, the ginger weathergirl, has written a book about her relationship with Lib Dem MP and Cheeky Boyfriend Lembit Opik. The Mail on Sunday, never known for its sensitive treatment of politicians’ personal lives, has run a somewhat embarrassing picture of him in drinking red wine in bed and the revelation that he once passed out on the toilet. As on many previous occasions, our editorial assistant Hollie summed it up best: “Sorry Sian, but you tapped that.”

In the MoS’s edited version of what were presumably the book’s juiciest bits, Opik is accused of letting Lloyd pay for everything, of drinking heavily, and of believing that an asteroid could wipe out mankind. A claim in the standfirst that “he said he was psychic” seems only to extend to his having told Lloyd he had “sensed” that she was pregnant (she later miscarried). Apparently he wore polyester suits and wasn’t particularly good at cleaning his bathroom.

What was Lloyd hoping to gain? Revenge? I’m not sure she was successful: the revelation that a senior Lib Dem likes a drink is hardly news. And Opik has been a figure of fun pretty much ever since he started going out with Cheeky Girl Gabriela (in case you’re American, or too highbrow for shit pop and reality TV, they are Romanian twins who were on Popstars: The Rivals and had a couple of singles whose lyrics included the memorable line “Touch my bum / This is life”. Their most recent gig, according to Wikipedia, was at the Cornwall Corn Exchange).

If she wanted to increase her own notoriety, I’m not sure that will be especially productive either – she was given extensive, and very sympathetic, coverage when the Cheeky story originally broke. I suppose it might be for the money, although it’s hard to imagine who would pay to read thousands more words of this drivel.

Most likely, she just wanted to show everyone how much better than him she was. Rather than having been traded in for a younger, more scantily-clad model, Lloyd says, she ended the relationship because Opik was “the wrong person” for her. He comes across as a child, weak, and a bit of a weirdo, that she had to look after. Her career successes are emphasised, while his ambitions are ridiculed. I can empathise with this. It’s one of the worse qualities of women – we want to think we’re too good for the men we’ve left behind. We want everyone else to think it even more.

Sadly for Lloyd, that’s not how she comes out of it. She seems like someone who can’t let go, who’s still harping on about the past while her ex-fiance is politely indifferent to her. Opik is definitely a weirdo, and probably a drinker and a cheapskate too – but sorry, Sian, you tapped that.