In hashtag OMG news, it seems Sergei the Meerkat – who shot to fame in the Compare the Market ads – could be axed amid fears he is getting too old to front the campaign.

As fans of Sergei’s will know, he usually appears in the adverts alongside his boss Aleksandr Orlov, who has apparently told Sergei, “You should be take easy. Enjoy your twilight days.”

And the Meerkovian newspaper worryingly reports on “possible redundancies.”

The Daily Star, meanwhile, reveals that in an ad that will air tomorrow night, during the second outing of this year’s Dancing On Ice, we’ll see Aleksandr telling Sergei – who is the head of the IT department, and good with computer thingamabobs – that because many fans are visiting comparethemeerkat a lot of extra pressure is on the IT department…

And Aleksandr thinks it’s too much for the aging Sergei.

Of Sergei, Aleksandr has previously said, “Sergei is very old. It is difficult to date him exactly, but I estimate him no less than 77.

“He used to be head of principal design group for Soviet Space Program during the 1980s. He personally design the Mir(kat) Space Station!

“Now career has reach new height with working for comparethemeerkat.com.

“As well as being Head of IT, Sergei is also Head of My Tea. I like it milky.”

And as you can see in the clip below, poor Sergei is often befuddled by the world of TV…

We can only hope that Aleksandr shows some mercy and keeps Sergei on. The world would be a shade darker without him…