Matt Hancock is finally heading back to the UK to face the huge backlash he received over his decision to appear on ITV show I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!
The Tory MP missed his original 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 the jungle show, reports The Mirror.
It meant he also ditched girlfriend Gina Coladangelo, who had to fly home alone as he was getting on a later flight. Hancock is believed to have flown home around six hours later, although he managed to sneak through the departures area without being photographed.
Campmates Boy George and Chris Moyles were on a later flight back to the UK and were allowed to go through passport control away from the public via a fire escape door, but it is not known if Hancock did the same. However, his decision to fly home late on Monday contradicts 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 wrapped, he has now spent a day with Gina at a swanky 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."
Prior to entering the jungle, Hancock said he would donate some of his fee to charity but he is yet to reveal exactly how much of his apparent £400,000 he will part with. 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 with a petition even created calling for ITV bosses to cut him from the line-up.
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 at a time when this would breach his own rules on physical contact. It also ended his 15-year marriage
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