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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Charlotte Hawes

Matt Hancock's affair with aide - are they still together and what happened to his wife?

Matt Hancock is jetting into the I'm A Celebrity jungle tonight (November 8) after having the Tory whip stripped from him.

The Conservative Party suspended the whip after it emerged the self-promoting former Health Secretary - who has a book due out - was flying to Australia for the ITV hit show.

Days after being snubbed for a Cabinet comeback by Rishi Sunak, the sitting MP is set to join Boy George, Chris Moyles and Mike Tindall after signing up to the show at the last minute.

He will make a donation to his local St Nicholas Hospice in Suffolk from his ITV earnings.

Matt Hancock and former aide Gina Coladangelo (Dinendra Haria/LNP)

After he has battled Bushtucker trials involving animal genitals and creepy crawlies, Hancock could possibly be voted out of the competition... or go on win the title of King of the Jungle.

Following his exit from the show, he will be greeted by a loved one on the I'm A Celebrity bridge in an explosive reunion.

But could he be greeted by his former aide with whom he had an explosive - and career-ending - affair with?

Here's everything you need to know.

Matt Hancock resigned as health secretary in 2021 (Getty Images)

Why did Matt Hancock resign as Health Secretary?

The ex-Health Sec stepped down from his role in June 2021 after he was exposed for breaking the very same social distancing rules that he had in part set in law.

The affair was exposed after Hancock was caught on CCTV canoodling with his aide Gina Coladangelo.

It is believed that the images were leaked by an insider at the Department of Health on May 6, 2021.

Matt Hancock pictured kissing his aide Gina Coladangelo (Image: The Sun)

At the time, both Hancock and Coladangelo were married with children.

Following the scandal, the former health secretary faced immense pressure to resign and in his letter of resignation, he told then-prime minister Boris Johnson that he had let the public down.

He said: “I owe it to the people who have sacrificed so much in this pandemic to be honest when we have let them down.”

Who is Gina Coladangelo?

Matt Hancock with Gina Coladangelo (Getty Images)

Gina Coladangelo is a lobbyist, businesswoman and a former non-executive director at the Department of Health and Social Care.

She first met Hancock whilst they were studying at Oxford University.

Hancock revealed on Steven Bartlett's podcast, The Diary Of A CEO, earlier this year that the pair became close friends when they started presenting a student radio show together.

The businesswoman studied Politics, Philosophy and Economics while at the university alongside Hancock.

Despite their close friendship, they both went on to marry other people.

Hancock tied the knot to osteopath Martha Hoyer Millar in 2006 and Coladangelo married Oliver Tress of fashion brand Oliver Bonas in 2009.

Gina Coladangelo with ex-husband Oliver Tress (Getty Images Europe)

Hancock appointed Coladangelo to the Department of Health and Social Care in March 2020 and a few months later, she was promoted to the role of non-executive director.

The new role meant that she was a member of the board who can scrutinise the department.

When the affair came to light in June 2021, Coladangelo resigned from her role in office.

Both Hancock and Coladangelo separated from their partners following the revelation, however, the former health secretary is yet to file for divorce.

Are Matt Hancock and Gina Coladangelo still together?

The MP and his former aide are still together a year on after their affair was exposed.

In The Diary Of A CEO podcast, Hancock said that he was "in love" with his new partner.

He said: “We spent a lot of time together, ironically trying to get me to be able to communicate in a more emotionally intelligent way, and we fell in love.

“That is something that was completely outside of my control and I of course regret the pain that that’s caused and the very very very public nature… anybody who has been through this knows how difficult it is, how painful it is, doing that in public is incredibly painful.”

What happened to Matt Hancock's wife?

Matt Hancock's ex-wife Martha Hoyer Millar (Nigel Howard)

Following the couple's split, Hancock's ex-wife left the London home they shared together.

The 44-year-old is yet to divorce the former health secretary and they share three children together - a daughter and two sons - aged 14, 13 and eight.

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