The ex-husband of former All Saint Natalie Appleton said her behaviour on reality television was a small drama compared with their marriage.

Stripper Carl Robinson, 37, said the singer, who is in the Australian jungle for the TV series of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!, had revealed her true character on the show.

Carl, of New Church Road, Hove, said: "At last everyone can see what I had to go through."

The pair met at a London club in 1992 where Carl was performing as a founding member of the Dreamboys.

Natalie, on a night out with her sister Nicole and actress Samantha Janus, hit it off with Carl instantly.

Though she was only 17, Natalie moved in with Carl within three months and the pair had daughter Rachel the following year.

The couple married in New York in 1993 but the fairytale romance was soon over.

Emotional rows and constant break-ups and reconciliations followed until a final split in 1995.

Natalie is now married to Liam Howlett from dance act The Prodigy.

Carl said: "She is neurotic and highly strung and will go nuts about anything.

"She also has a suspicious mind - just like we're seeing in the jungle."

Carl said Natalie would get furious with him if she thought he was being too flirty with the crowd when he was on stage.

He said when he heard his ex-wife was to go on I'm A Celebrity he thought she must have changed but found he was wrong.

He said: "I thought after all these years she must have calmed down a bit.

"But she is utterly ridiculous."

Since the celebrities arrived in the jungle last Saturday, Natalie has had countless teary outbursts culminating in a blazing row with underwear model Sophie Anderton on Thursday.

She accused the model of being cold, saying: "You hugged me but I felt nothing.

"I don't feel you, babe. You're all me, me, me."

She has also failed miserably at her Bushtucker trials, squealing that she was going to be sick and asking for her mum.

Carl said: "She is completely pedantic about germs and cleanliness.

"She is a big baby."

He left the Dreamboys three years ago to start a comedy strip and drag act at the Babylon Lounge in Kingsway, Hove.

The night now runs at seven clubs across the country but Carl feels most at home in Sussex.

He said: "Brighton is a brilliant place to strip and the people at the Babylon Lounge are fantastic.

"I love the girls and the atmosphere here."

Natalie quit I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! last night after viewers voted for her to do a fifth Bushtucker trial.

The 31-year-old left at around 10.30am Australian time (12.30am GMT) a spokeswoman for the show confirmed.