Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
HANCOCK: SO WAS I AUTHENTICALLY ME?
MP’S cringey jungle debrief
MATT Hancock gave his lover Gina Coladangelo a cringey grilling over his stint on I’m A Celebrity, asking her: “Was I authentically me?”
The disgraced former Health Secretary came third in the series but his ex-aide admitted he had “underestimated” the backlash his appearance would provoke.
Following his exit on Sunday, the Tory MP, 44, asked: “Of course, I’m curious to how it’s gone, was I authentically me?”
Gina, 45, told him: “It took a few days I felt for you to relax.” Hancock broke lockdown rules last year after being caught on CCTV kissing Gina.
In tonight’s reunion show on ITV, she admits: “I think it’s fair to say Matt underestimated the scale of the reaction to him coming into the jungle.
“I thought Matt was leaving the jungle every day so I am pleasantly surprised he’s made it this far.” Gina claims he is made of “tough stuff ” after a four-day trek to Mont Blanc last summer.
But Hancock’s ITV stint drew grumbles from campmates Charlene White and Boy George.
He admits: “When I was being grilled in the early days, I felt like people were asking me on behalf of the British public.
“I knew going in it would be controversial but I also know millions of people have voted for me.”
Meanwhile, Princess Anne’s daughter Zara Tindall, 41, jokes her husband Mike “cheated on her” with Corrie’s Sue Cleaver. As the pair reunite, the former rugby star, 44, laughs: “I’m sorry I had a camp wife in there [Sue], but she was brilliant.”
I’m A Celebrity…get Me Out Of Here! The Coming Out Show, 9.15pm, on ITV1.