It’s no excuse but I fell in love, Hancock tells campmates
MATT HANCOCK has defended his lockdown-breaking behaviour, by telling campmates on I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here that he “fell in love”.
The MP for West Suffolk was forced to resign as health secretary in June 2021 after footage showed him kissing his aide, Gina Coladangelo, in his ministerial office in breach of Covid regulations. Mr Hancock later left his wife for Ms Coladangelo.
In last night’s episode, Mr Hancock was confronted over his behaviour by celebrities in the Australian jungle.
Comedian Babatunde Aléshé told him he had “messed up”, and he replied: “I messed up and fessed up.”
Mr Hancock went on: “It’s no excuse but I fell in love, right? That also had a lot of other consequences, obviously.”
“You didn’t just ‘fell in love’, you were grabbing booty, bruv”, Aléshé said in reference to the infamous video of Mr Hancock and Ms Coladangelo, but also said during the exchange that he did not judge the MP.
Mr Hancock’s participation in the show has also come in for heavy criticism, with news of his appearance prompting the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group to suggest he should not appear while the Covid inquiry is taking place, and questions remain over his decision-making, saying: “If he had any respect for bereaved families, he would be sharing his private emails with the Covid Inquiry, not eating bugs on TV.”
Fellow politicians have been similarly scathing, with Chris Heaton-harris, the Northern Ireland Secretary, telling Sky News: “He should be here with us voting and debating in Parliament.”
TV presenter Scarlette Douglas told Mr Hancock that events during Covid “make it difficult because people are angry and upset emotions are running high”, but she added: “We’re not going to ever exclude anyone.
“We want to make sure that everyone’s a family, but if it does feel tough for the first few days, I’m sure you understand why.”