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Simon Duke

Ant and Dec thank I'm A Celebrity viewers after voting rallying call helps end 'boring' trend

Ant and Dec shared in the delight of I'm A Celebrity viewers at home that Matt Hancock wasn't voted to do the latest Bushtucker Trial, right after they faced demands for show rules to be changed.

As soon as his name was linked to an appearance in the new series of I'm A Celebrity, the former Health Secretary hasn't been far away from headlines or from controversy, as many members of the public were incensed that he'd been given an opportunity to be one of TV's best loved shows.

Matt went into the jungle as a late arrival alongside Seann Walsh last week and, after doing a joint trial with the ex Strictly star before they went into camp, he's been voted to do five consecutive trials, the most recent being Deserted Down Under, which saw him in a coffin surrounded by 30 snakes during Monday's episode.

READ MORE: Denise Welch condemns I'm A Celebrity's Charlene White for Matt Hancock 'friendship'

After he managed to get seven stars for camp, Ant and Dec revealed details of the next trial - Angel of Agony and the fact that three celebs would be taking part. The news came after Matt's co-star Sue Cleaver blamed 'public anger' on him being consistently voted to do all the trials, so there was a huge shock when Ant and Dec told Matt that he hadn't been chosen for Angel of Agony, with Boy George, Babatunde and Chris Moyles instead put in the firing line.

As they do after every live I'm A Celebrity show, the Geordie hosts went on live on Instagram after credits rolled on Monday and celebrated the fact Matt wouldn't be doing yet another trial, taking the opportunity to thank viewers who'd voted, with Dec cheerfully remarking: "We get to see some new faces in the trial clearing!"

Matt not being voted to do a trial came after Ant and Dec blamed viewers for complaints that I'm A Celeb was becoming 'The Matt Hancock Show.' Calling for a change in rules, one unhappy viewer wrote: "Should be a rule that you can’t be voted for a trial if you did the previous one. Stop all this voting for the same person, this is going to get boring."

Issuing a direct response, Ant said: "If you want other people to do the trial then you've got to vote for them. If you want to see other people in the show, you've got to vote for those other people.

"Because as we know, the trials take up a third of the show, it's a big part of the show."

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