Matt Hancock shocked viewers and campmates when it was revealed that he'd be taking part in ITV's I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here this year.
The former health secretary arrived in the jungle with comedian Seann Walsh on November 9 as a late entry. Since then, he's been voted for three trials and brought back 11 stars in two of the tasks.
But things haven't been going entirely smoothly for Matt, despite him winning plenty of food for the camp. His fellow celebrities have been questioning him about his handling of the Covid pandemic as well as the fact he's been suspended as a Tory MP for West Suffolk, Manchester Evening News reports.
On Thursday night's episode (November 10), Channel 4 presenter Scarlette Douglas highlighted that some viewers and his fellow campmates might be annoyed or upset to see him in the jungle because of how he handled the pandemic.
"A lot of people had difficult times and then to see that people who had set the rules had broken them was a big slap in the face," Scarlette said.
Matt then responded: "I know how people felt and that's why I resigned, so good on you for saying that."
And when speaking about his affair and breach of lockdown rules, which led to his resignation as the health secretary in June 2021, he said: "It's no excuse but I fell in love and that also had a lot of other consequences. I obviously brought it on myself. But I messed up and I fessed up."
The grilling continued well into Friday night's episode - this time, Chris Moyles was asking the difficult questions.
He asked if Matt had received a fine for flouting the lockdown rules, and it turns out he didn't.
News presenter Charlene White then added: "Matt, you were socialising with someone outside of your household," but the MP insisted: "I didn't break any laws, it was guidance. But the problem was it was my guidance. It was a mistake because I fell in love with somebody. That's why I apologised for it."
Charlene then responded: "It's massively bigger than that. My aunt died from Covid in the first wave. We couldn't go to the hospital to visit her. I had to sit by myself in the church at her funeral. We couldn't hug each other because we were following guidance.
"I get that you fell in love but sorry, for a lot of families like mine, doesn't really cut it."
Matt also said he had "no regrets" for how he handled the pandemic as a whole - but what he was really looking for from the show was "a bit of forgiveness".
Scarlette then admitted she "nearly cried" as the former health sec said: "so did I."
But despite the other campmates seemingly having sympathy for Matt, Chris Moyles wasn't buying it.
Speaking to the Bush Telegraph, Chris admitted: "Honestly the way I feel now is he's pulled the mask slightly off his chin a little bit, but I still think he's not telling us the full truth.
Later speaking to Scarlette, Chris said: "It was when he asked for forgiveness. I wanted to say 'forgiveness for what, Matt? What are you sorry for, being caught or having an affair, making bad decisions or lying? If you're going to be real then be real. I don't think he's being real and it's bugging me."
People flocked to social media to show their support for Chris calling Matt out.
On Twitter, one said: "So glad people like Chris Moyles are seeing through Matt Hancock's bulls**t that he's here for forgiveness with his fake emotion, it's like the covid vaccine fake cry all over again."
And another added: "@ChrisMoyles just said what I was thinking. There's a reason why it's so cringy watching Matt Hancock get emotional, it's because it's fake."
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