A director of an American-based adult magazine hoping to feature Kirk McCambley in its next edition is due to arrive in Northern Ireland next week.

Daniel Nardicio, director of marketing for Playgirl Magazine and Playgirl.com, said he would be flying into Ulster with a television crew to track down Iris Robinson’s 21-year-old former lover.

The magazine, which famously offered Prince Charles $45,000 to pose nude, is keen to have Mr McCambley on the cover of its March issue.

“I'll be looking into coming over to Belfast in the next week to try and find Kirk McCambley, most probably concentrating on the Lock Keeper’s.

“We have Entertainment Tonight interested in shooting Kirk's trip to America and possibly my trip to the UK to find him,” Mr Nardicio told the Belfast Telegraph from his New York office.

Last year Playgirl, which has a dedicated following of female and gay readers, featured Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin’s grandchild, and Mr Nardicio believes the Kirk-Iris saga is the perfect follow-up.

He added: “We at Playgirl are very fascinated with the story, it is somewhat mimicking the Sarah Palin-Levi Johnston story, plus we love our readers in the UK.

“At the end of the day, Kirk is a hot young guy in keeping with the kind of guys we go for in Playgirl. The political aspects of the story are straight out of the pages of our magazine.

“Palin and Robinson are no different — hypocrites who use their public platform to oppress.”

The magazine would not disclose how much Mr McCambley would be paid if he agreed to do the raunchy photoshoot except to say it would make it “worth his while”. It is understood Levi Johnston received over $100,000.

Since news of his affair with 60-year-old Mrs Robinson was splashed across every newspaper in the country, Mr McCambley, who has not been seen at his riverside cafe in more than a week, has become an unlikely gay icon.

The UK’s best selling gay magazine has also expressed interest in having the young businessman pose, while some Sunday newspapers have been offering six-figure sums for his story.

Mrs Robinson, a devout Christian, had been conducting the extra-marital affair during the summer of 2008 while making a series of homophobic comments in the media, which provoked outrage.