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Wales Online
Wales Online
Lifestyle
Cathy Owen

Grant Shapps delivers brutal Matt Hancock I'm a Celebrity dig on live TV

A Tory cabinet MP has openly criticised colleague Matt Hancock for travelling to Australia to appear on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Business Secretary Grant Shapps was speaking on a number of breakfast shows on Monday morning.

When asked by Sky's Kay Burley if he was going to vote for Mr Hancock on the ITV show, Mr Shapps said: "I'm not no. He should be here looking after his constituents, rather than in the jungle."

The MP, who was Home Secretary for six days last month, said that while it might be "tempting" to watch his colleague eating disgusting critters, he will instead be focusing on his Cabinet job and will be off to Cop27 in Egypt this week too.

Asked if he was looking forward to seeing Mr Hancock having to eat crocodile anus, Mr Shapps told Sky News: "Tempting as that is, I think I'll probably be focusing on my job as Business Secretary, and I'll be off at Cop27 later this week as well, so I fear I might miss him depending on how long he survives."

Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was left "very disappointed" by the West Suffolk MP's decision to take part in the show.

The former Health Secretary did not appear in the first episode of the celebrity programme that aired on Sunday night. See more about the first show here.

It emerged last week that the 44-year-old sitting MP would be part of this year's line up after photos emerged of the 44-year-old striding through Brisbane Airport and he even released a statement in The Sun about why he'd decided to take part.

He said he decided to enter the jungle to "go where the people are rather than 'sit in ivory towers in Westminster".

Hancock resigned from his position of Health Secretary in June, 2021 after breaking his own social distancing advice. It came after footage revealed the married politician kissing fellow married aide Gina Coladangelo. The dad-of-three ended his 15-year marriage to his wife Martha shortly before his affair was made public.

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