‘The public are fantastic with me and often ask for selfies’
MATT Hancock insists the public are “generally fantastic” with him and often ask for selfies.
The suspended Tory MP has faced a huge backlash after he made his debut on I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! this week.
The politician, 44, who will enjoy a reported £400,000 payday for his stint in the Australian jungle, has been the subject of phone-ins, online onslaughts and a mixed reaction from campmates.
But he appears to have been a big draw, with 9.1 million watching him enter the ITV show on Wednesday, up 2.1 million on last year.
But the former Health Secretary, who quit after breaking his own Covid rules by canoodling in an office, recently claimed he has had positive encounters with the public.
He told The Speakeasy podcast: “Somebody asked for a selfie. She was surreptitiously taking a photo.
Booty
“Well, it wasn’t surreptitious because it was really obvious. I said, ‘I hope you’re OK’. And she said, ‘Oh, can I have a selfie? I was too embarrassed to ask’.”
But following his I’m A Celebrity entrance alongside comedian Seann Walsh, the MP was taken to task by several campmates, who were stunned by his arrival.
ITV journalist Charlene White,
42, said: “I can imagine it would not have gone down well at all at home.” Boy George was upset and recalled when his mum Dinah, 83, was hospitalised with Covid. George, 61, said: “If my mum had gone, I’d have gone when he walked in.”
Meanwhile, comedian Babatunde Aleshe left the West Suffolk MP squirming after saying Matt was “grabbing booty” when caught on CCTV in a clinch with lover and former aide Gina Coladangelo.
Babatunde, 36, said: “You didn’t just ‘fell in love’ you were grabbing booty bruv!” Matt, who confirmed the pair are still together, responded: “Oh give over.” Babatunde laughed and said: “Sorry.” He added: “Look man, I don’t judge you bruv. I may take the **** out of you.”