An Evening with the Hamiltons

Before Louis Theroux and I'm a Celebrity... worked their magic, the wife of disgraced Tory MP Neil Hamilton was viewed as a cross between Lady Macbeth and Widow Twankey.

Whether leaping to her husband's defence in his horribly public spat with Martin Bell or undergoing ritual humiliation on Have I Got News For, Christine came across as a vicious M&S-clad harpie.

With her husband Neil - Judy to her Punch - she was the posh tart we loved to hate.

Then, by the power of television, she underwent a magical, and radical, transformation. Now the 53-year-old star is a loveable entertainer and favourite aunt to the nation. It's a staggering turnaround and one that has given both Christine and her slightly more retiring husband a whole new lease of life.

"I think we've just gone on being ourselves but public perception has undoubtedly changed," says Christine, a winning blend of disarming honesty, good humour and old-fashioned stiff upper lip.

"As far as I was concerned, the biggest thing for me was doing this ridiculous jungle programme. People were able to see me as I really am. People say to me 'I really didn't think I was going to like you. Now I'm your number one fan'."

Christine emerged from the Antipodean ordeal of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here a national treasure, her open, down-to-earth nature winning her a legion of new fans.

It was the last, but most important stage in a long period of transformation for the Hamiltons.

Before that there was Have I Got News For You (not exactly flattering, but at least it showed they had a sense of humour), Celebrity Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (in which Christine ended up sobbing over their inability to answer the easiest of questions correctly) and the Louis Theroux documentary - still remembered for that drunken kiss.

Since then, the Hamiltons have gone on to become one of the nation's favourite celebrity couples - all-purpose entertainers who can turn their hand to everything from after-dinning speaking to on stage antics in The Rocky Horror Show.

"If it's legal, honest and fun to do, we're up for it," says Christine.

"Neil says that we are professional objects of curiosity, which is typical of his humour.

"We do a mixture of things - TV, radio, writing... We are in the entertainment business. We have left the boring old business of politics."

The decision to leave politics was forced on the Hamiltons following Neil's involvement in a cash-for-questions scandal. The ensuing five-week high court battle with Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed left the couple financially ruined.

"We didn't know what we were going to do," says Christine, who is currently writing her autobiography.

"We were suddenly unemployed. We thought 'Crumbs, where's the next pound coming from?' We began to realise we could make a living out of entertaining people."

Remembering how she was originally perceived by both the press and public still makes her shudder.

"After the Martin Bell run-in, I saw myself on the news that night and could see I was coming across as pretty grim.

"In the press, my strength was immediately turned around as Neil's weakness. He is a much more reticent person than I am. I'm much more outgoing and extrovert, like an excited labrador."

A few years on, Christine can't believe how much their lives have changed - and seems to be loving every minute of the couple's new-found fame.

"I wouldn't want to retire. I wouldn't know what to do. There are moments when I would like to be able to walk around and not be recognised.

"Just occasionally I think 'Oh, crumbs, I want to be an ordinary person', but this is so much more fun than being a politician's wife.

"I'm not saying I didn't enjoy the 26 years I had at Westminster. Politics was exciting in those days. But I love what we do now. We are very, very lucky."

For the second series of I'm a Celebrity..., currently airing on ITV, Christine has become This Morning's official commentator.

Her happiest memory of the show was being put up for public vote - and realising that people did not want to see her humiliated.

"We got to the final trial. It was a choice between Tony, Nell and me. I thought it was bound to be me.

"When it wasn't, I felt a huge sort of warmth. I thought 'This is amazing. The British public don't want to see me undergo this trial'.

"I'm a Celebrity... was a wonderful, wonderful experience. It did me a lot of good. I didn't realise that it was going to. We didn't know the programme was going to be so big."

So who is Christine's favourite of the current contenders for jungle supemacy?

"Wayne Sleep, definitely. He is just gorgeous and I love his sense of humour. I can't understand this fascination with Tufnell, though. There's something about Tufnell that doesn't appeal to me."

An Evening with the Hamiltons is at the Tower Arts Centre, Winchester on May 9 (box office: 01962 867986) and Forest Arts, New Milton May 10 (box office: 01425 612393).