Patti Blagojevich Keeps It Classy In Reality TV Debut

Patti Blagojevich, the foul-mouthed wife of one of the most outrageous politicians in recent U.S. history, made her reality-TV debut last night and -- well, kept it classy, believe it or not.

Of course, context is everything: On NBC's "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!" the wife of disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was surrounded by the crème of publicity-hungry D-listers - actor Stephen Baldwin, pro wrestler Torrie Wilson, former supermodel Janice Dickinson, American Idol runner-up Sanjaya.

In that company, Mrs. B. - who joined the "Survivor"-like show when a judge prohibited her husband from traveling to Costa Rica for it - just couldn't get much traction. If anything, she seemed to blend into the scenery purposefully. She kept her head down during the epic smackdown between "The Hills" villains Spencer and Heidi and VH1 comedy duo Frangela over a bottle of dry shampoo. She never had to be bleeped.

In her most dramatic moment, Blagojevich appeared to be swept away during a river crossing. (Production sources claim she almost drowned.) "It was a little faster and deeper than I expected, and it almost took me," she told the camera. Later, she swallowed a tarantula - almost fast enough to win an eating challenge against Lou Diamond Phillips, but not quite.

"They had this musty, yeast flavor that was not good at all," she said matter-of-factly, "but I thought I'll start chewing it and what happens."

More than 90 long minutes into the show, Patti finally opened up, in an exchange that must have been prompted and prodded by producers.

"Let's get through this big elephant in the room, Patti," said Spencer Pratt, as he lolled around with new wife Heidi Montag's head in his lap. "Why is your husband facing jail time? What happened?"

"I can't really get into it too much," Blagojevich said flatly. "They made a big hoopla out of something that wasn't even the truth.

Sympathy from her fellow celebs: "People make accusations about me all the day long," said Pratt. "All the day, all the day," agreed Janice Dickinson.

Mrs. Blago continued: "My husband was governor for six years...." ("Twice elected by the people!" Dickinson chimed in.) "He was always about doing the right thing for people... Every child in Illinois has health care because of my husband... He was fighting every step of the way. But when you're fighting the special interests, down in that entrenched state capital, you make a lot of enemies."

"You're so brave," said Dickinson.

Pratt, an accomplished camera-hog of the first degree, took it up a notch: "When I met him, I was like, this was who I would have voted for president of the United States of America," he deadpanned. Then he and Dickinson assured Mrs. B. that the truth would set them free, and thanked her for her honesty. "I look at them as the Heidi and Spencer of politics," Pratt said. Funny, so do we.

The show ended with a cliffhanger - a "trauma tank" challenge in which the celebs competed to see who could stand to keep their head suspended the longest in a vat full of tarantulas and cockroaches. At last glimpse, it looked like Mrs. B. might win.