Mr Opik said his relationship was 'not some sort of joke'

Mr Opik announced before Christmas that he was dating Cheeky Girl Gabriela Irimia, after ending his engagement to ITV weather presenter Sian Lloyd.

It later emerged that he spoke to a Home Office minister about the 24-year-old pop singer and her twin sister Monica, who were having difficulties with their immigration status.

He told BBC Northern Ireland's Talkback programme: "I am flattered by the happiness that I have generated for the last four weeks."

He added: "Everything I want to say about my personal situation is well documented in this week's Hello. I thought it was the right place to do it.

"Because, while I have been very flattered by the attention, at the end of the day, it is not really politics.

"I do hope that over time, we will find boundaries, whereby however interesting politicians' private lives are - they are primarily judged on what they do in politics.

Mr Opik has inspired a mobile phone-based love song

"I would be much happier if people said: 'Opik helped to get the peace process' than be known for even the things I have said in Hello."

The MP said the House of Commons was "a very warm place and colleagues in all parties could certainly see the lighter side of it".

He added: "Life is interesting - I'm an optimist and hope that colourful optimism will be reflected in a colourful optimism in the DUP as well.

"So good luck to Sinn Fein, good luck to the DUP, and thank you to everyone who is so interested in what I'm doing when I'm not working."

'Absolutely no overlap'

In this week's Hello magazine, Mr Opik insisted his love for Cheeky Girls singer Gabriela Irimia is based on a "meeting of minds" rather than "lust".

Talking to Hello magazine, Mr Opik admitted they were "the oddest couple in Britain", but said the relationship was "not some sort of joke".

The Lib Dem Northern Ireland and Wales spokesman met Ms Irimia after he split from weather presenter Sian Lloyd.

Mr Opik told Hello he was "scared" of the Cheeky Girls' mother Margit.

He said there had been "absolutely no overlap" with his previous relationship with Ms Lloyd, to whom he was engaged for two years.

Miss Irimia, 24, is said to be dedicating her next single - Text Me I Love You - to the Montgomeryshire MP.

She said: "I found him really interesting, smart, delicate and funny - he tells jokes all the time. He's a gentleman and is very protective."

The Cheeky Girls arrived in the UK from Romania in 2002 and shot to fame with their unsuccessful auditions in the reality TV show Popstars: The Rivals.

Their first single The Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) reached number two in the charts.