I’m a celebritv boss
Shamed former health secretary sets up his own television firm
Matt Hancock has set up his own TV company in a bid to launch his broadcasting career – after quitting as an MP.
The former Tory representative for West Suffolk, 44, who was paid £320,000 to appear on I’m A Celebrity last year, set up Greenhazel Ltd on January 5.
Accounts for the firm, of which Hancock is the sole officer, list its nature of business as “television programming and broadcasting activities”.
The move was last night slammed as “disgraceful” by MP Richard Burgon, who is campaigning for a bill to ban MPs from second jobs.
Burgon said: “This is exactly the kind of thing that helps to breed cynicism in our politics – it short-changes the public and damages democracy.
“The decision to go into the jungle was disgraceful and this is more of the same. MPs should not be chasing celebrity and corporate money.”
News of Hancock’s new firm comes ahead of the ex-health secretary’s upcoming appearance on Celebrity: SAS Who Dares Wins, which airs later this year.
Last year, it was reported he also plans to forge a career making “serious documentaries” – tackling topics such as dyslexia and assisted dying. Ahead of his stint in the Australian jungle last year, Hancock insisted his primary reason for taking part was to campaign for dyslexia sufferers.
He voiced his intention to make donations to St Nicholas’s Hospice in Suffolk and to causes supporting dyslexia. But he came under fire again in January when it emerged he had donated just three per cent of the fee to charitable causes. He later appeared on ITV’s This Morning to defend himself, arguing his £10,000 donation was “a decent sum”.
Shamed Hancock was forced to quit as health secretary in June 2021 after he was exposed breaking his ow n d i s t ancing guidelines – in an office clinch with aide Gina Coladangelo.
He is due to give evidence to an inquiry into the Government’s handling of Covid in June.
Past MPs who have forged successful careers in TV include former shadow chancellor Ed Balls, who was a hit on Strictly in 2016 and has been a guest presenter on Good Morning Britain.