Snake bites Lembit Opik on Celebrity challenge

(Rex Features/ITV/PA Wire)

Former MP Lembit Opik has been bitten by a snake while enduring the latest I'm A Celebrity challenge.

The contestant was nipped on a finger after he thrust his hand into a box containing the angry reptile in an effort to avoid elimination from the ITV1 show.

Opik, who endured 13 years of backbiting in Westminster, will be seen receiving the bite in a double bill of I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here! tonight from 8pm.

Opik, and others including Stacey Solomon and Shaun Ryder, were taking part in a contest in which the winner would be immune from eviction tonight.

The ex-Lib Dem politician had to put his hand into a box of rats, then another containing the snake, as he fumbled around for keys.

Opik - who was unable to see what was in the box - grimaced as he gingerly put his hand inside, then flinched as the snake grabbed him.

Public phone votes in the contest are raising cash for the charity Malaria No More UK, which aims to eradicate deaths from the disease by 2015.