Matt Hancock is finally heading home to face up to a giant backlash over his decision to appear on I'm A Celebrity.
The disgraced MP missed his earlier planned flight because he was taking part in a lucrative interview where he is expected to try to defend his decision to leave his constituents without an MP for a month to appear on I'm A Celebrity.
It meant he also abandoned girlfriend Gina Coladangelo, who had to fly home alone on Monday.
Instead, Hancock is now believed to have flown home around six hours later, although he managed to sneak through the departures area without being photographed.
Boy George and Chris Moyles were on a later flight home and were allowed to go through passport control away from the public via a fire escape door, but it is not known if Hancock used similar methods for his flight.
However, his decision to fly home late on Monday flies in the face of his earlier claims he would go straight back to work after leaving the jungle.
Writing about his decision to do the show, days before he entered the Jungle, Hancock wrote: "As soon as my time in camp is up, I will return to Suffolk to hold a surgery where I will catch up with my constituents and discuss matters of concern."
Since the show ended he has now spent a day with Gina at a plush hotel, then gone on a night of partying with all the contestants and now spent a day completing what is believed to be a photoshoot and paid-for interview. This all appears to leave little time for office work.
On Monday, a spokesperson for Matt Hancock had insisted: "Matt will be in West Suffolk this week and the second reading of his Dyslexia Screening and Teacher Training Bill will be heard in Parliament on Friday."
Hancock also still needs to answer how much of his appearance fee, believed to be around £400,000, he will donate to charity.
He was suspended from the conservative party and was slammed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Sunak said: “I was disappointed when he went on the show … we’ve spent however long [on] all these challenges that the country faces – not just me.
“MPs not just from my party, from all parties, are focused on debating and trying to solve [the challenges]. I think that’s what we should be focused on and that’s why I was disappointed he went on the show.”
There has also been criticism from families who had loved ones who died in care homes when he was health secretary.
In April, Hancock apologised after the High Court ruled government policies on discharging patients from hospital into care homes at the onset of the pandemic were "unlawful".
And in June 2021 he was forced to resign after CCTV footage surfaced of him embracing his aide Gina Coladangelo at a time when this would breach his own rules on physical contact. It also ended his 15 year marriage
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