At least his girlfriend’s f lying out to lend her support!
Cleaning the toilet, dodging snakes and riding a bike to fill bath in the steaming heat -– trials awaiting Hancock in celebrity jungle, but ...
THE I’m A Celebrity jungle could be a lonely place for Matt Hancock – especially if he’s a popular choice for gruelling trials.
So it’ll no doubt be a comfort to him that he’ll have a supporter nearby – his girlfriend Gina Coladangelo.
She is expected to fly to Australia next week when the former health secretary makes his surprise arrival in the show’s camp with comedian Seann Walsh, 36.
Mr Hancock, 44, and his former aide Miss Coladangelo, 45, broke Covid rules when they were caught in a passionate clinch in his ministerial office during lockdown. The encounter marked the end of his marriage to his now estranged wife Martha.
Mr Hancock could be under the scrutiny of 128 cameras for up to three weeks on the ITV programme that begins on Sunday.
He will be forced to sleep on a bunk bed, clean out the toilet and dodge venomous snakes and spiders, with this year’s cohort facing 24 trials across 21 shows. Mr Hancock, who insists it was not the reported
‘He is abandoning his constituents’
six-figure pay cheque that prompted him to sign up, is currently isolating an hour away from the jungle in Tweed Shire after arriving in Brisbane yesterday.
His first challenge will be sleeping on a narrow bunk bed beneath one of his new co- stars, with no pillow or duvet while exposed to Australia’s extreme climate.
Earlier this week, a venomous red-bellied black snake was found near a bed in the camp during a rehearsal. Other venomous snakes and pythons are also found in the jungle, as well as funnel-web and mouse spiders.
Mr Hancock will have to muck in with camp chores – including manually disposing of toilet waste – and will be forced to pedal a bicycle to pump water for co-stars including Mike Tindall, Boy George and Chris Moyles if they need to use the bath.
‘We are filming more than we’ve ever done before and there will be more elements over more show,’ said I’m A Celebrity executive producer Olly Nash.
‘We have more big rigs; we have more big, slimy, dirty trials, and a lot more competitive trials.’
Mr Hancock had the whip suspended by the parliamentary Conservative Party on Tuesday after it was announced that he would be taking part.
He faced fresh criticism over his decision to join as he arrived in Australia, with Labour accusing him of showing ‘contempt for his constituents’.
Meanwhile, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper called for him to quit as an MP and trigger a by-election.
She said: ‘He is abandoning his constituents by going to the jungle and is shirking from his responsibilities. In any normal workplace, he’d be sacked.’
Mr Hancock’s Tory colleague Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘It’s up to him, but I don’t agree with it. You’re a politician, not a celebrity. I was offered it three times and turned it down.’
Mr Hancock has claimed he can still be reached on ‘ urgent constituency matters’ despite being 10,270 miles away.
He said he was trying out reality TV to ‘go to where the people are – not to sit in ivory towers in Westminster’. He wrote in The Sun yesterday: ‘Some may think I’ve lost my marbles or had one too many drinks, swapping the comfortable surroundings of Westminster and West Suffolk for the extreme conditions of the Australian outback…
‘While there will undoubtedly be those who think I shouldn’t go, I think it’s a great opportunity to talk directly to people who aren’t always interested in politics, even if they care very much about how our country’s run.’
ITV defended its decision to feature Mr Hancock, telling the Mail: ‘We cast people from all walks of life and always have done. We have politicians going back years... You never know what they’re going to do.’
A source said: ‘ Matt is looking forward to going into the jungle.
‘He is known up and down the country for standing behind a podium during his time as health secretary and he is keen to show the human side, because every politician has a human side.
‘He understands why some people are cross, but he believes politicians should communicate with the public in lots of different ways and I’m A Celebrity is one of them.
‘He’s still working up until he goes into the programme and will be told about anything urgent in his constituency.’
Meanwhile, Mr Hancock hit back yesterday after families who lost loved ones in the pandemic accused him of ‘cashing in on his terrible legacy’. A spokesman said: ‘Matt will be donating more than his MP’s salary to charity. ‘There isn’t a day that goes by that Matt doesn’t think about those who died or about those who lost loved ones to Covid. Matt lost a family member himself to Covid.
‘Matt worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to get the first vaccine in the world. It was his mission to make sure there was enough vaccine to vaccinate the whole of the UK.
‘The vaccine programme was a huge success and helped the UK escape the pandemic faster than almost any other country in the world.
‘Decisions were always guided by the science, in an attempt to protect the public and to save as many lives as possible.
‘This is an amazing opportunity to engage with the public and talk about issues he really cares about, including his dyslexia campaign.’