Matt Hancock was put under integration on Friday's I'm A Celebrity as he faced tough questions from his campmates, all still in shock that he is even in the jungle after the controversy.
There was widespread anger when it was confirmed that former Health Secretary Hancock was going into the jungle for the new series of the ITV show and the backlash has continued this week, after he went into I'm A Celebrity on Wednesday night as a late arrival. The reaction was one of surprise from his fellow campmates, with many putting Hancock on the spot as to why he'd chosen to be on the show.
And, although he has tried to ingratiate to his co-stars with his exploits in the challenges, including the eating trial with Boy George, Hancock faced a series of questions on Friday, in scenes that had viewers on the edge of their seat at home. After he told them he'd just completed his book, the Pandemic Diaries, Hancock was asked by Chris Moyles if he received a lockdown fine, something he denied, responding: "I didn’t break any laws. Guidance is different. Guidance is guidance. But the problem was it was my guidance. That’s why…”
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Scarlette Douglas asked him: “Why did you break your own guidance?” to which he replied: "“Because it was a mistake, because I fell in love with somebody," an excuse he used when discussing the same issue with Babatunde just 24 hours earlier.
Not backing down, Scarlette asked: “But you did it anyway? It’s that kind of, you just do it and then afterwards it’s like, ‘Oh I’m sorry, I’m sorry.’” Hancock told her: “No, because it’s bigger than that.”
Becoming slightly wound up by Hancock's answers, Charlene White added: “It’s massively bigger than that. My aunt died from Covid in the first wave. So, we couldn’t go to the hospital to go and 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. And I get that you fell in love, I understand all of those things, but sorry for a lot of families like mine doesn’t really cut it.”
Hancock old her: “Yeah. Well, there you go. That’s one of the reasons that I regret it as much as I do," before Loose Women host Charlee asked if he had any regret regarding the way he handled the pandemic as a whole, to which he responded: “So the pandemic as a whole no, I’m much, much more robust in my defence of it.
“So PPE for instance, I know, of course I saw what happened to it, but that’s because we suddenly needed masses more PPE and so did everybody else in the world. And care homes… There were reasons for the decisions that were taken and ultimately those problems were caused by the virus, not the people who were trying to solve the problem.”
Reflecting on the line on questioning in the Bush Telegraph, Hancock remarked: "In a way, lots of the campmates asked questions that the public have got as well and it’s only respectful to just give completely straight and truthful answers.”
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