Hundreds of MPs and peers have downloaded the 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!' app to vote for Matt Hancock to do Bushtucker trials, a top Tory has said.
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris suggested that politicians were getting their own back on the shamed former Health Secretary by nominating him for challenges on the hit ITV reality show.
Mr Hancock was covered in bugs and sludge in his first trial on arriving at camp last night - and the public have already voted for him to take part in the next trial, called The Tentacles of Terror.
Mr Heaton-Harris told TimesRadio: “There are hundreds of MPs and peers who have managed to – probably for the first time in some peers’ life – download an app to vote for somebody.
“So I’m assuming that doesn’t mean great things for Matt.”
Mr Hancock has come under fire for abandoning his constituents to swan off to Australia for the show.
The Tory party suspended the whip after the news broke of his jungle stint, which means he now sits as an independent MP.
"He should be here with us voting and debating in Parliament," Mr Heaton-Harris told Sky News.
"I do believe there's quite a lot of people in a building not too far away from here, the House of Commons and the House of Lords, who've downloaded a certain app so they can vote.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing."
He added: "I read this morning what he said about how he wants to prove that all MPs are human, and that's actually, you know, that is true.
"All MPs are human, but I think we do that every day in our constituencies and what we do in Parliament."
Mr Hancock's arrival in camp caused a stir among the other contestants.
A tearful Boy George said his mum was in hospital during the first lockdown and he couldn't visit her.
"I thought she was going to die," he said. "And I was tweeting Greenwich Hospital saying please look after my mum.
"They did and she was fine, but I feel like I don't want to be sitting here like I'm having fun with him [Hancock]."
The West Suffolk MP told his constituents he had to appear on reality TV as he wants to “speak candidly to the nation”.
He has said he wants to promote awareness for his campaign around dyslexia.
