Former Health Secretary and I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! contestant Matt Hancock's showbiz career has reportedly hit a snag - after he dropped his search for an agent. The politician had reportedly turned to friends in a bid to find representation.
But according to The Mirror, he has now abandoned the search. Mr Hancock reached the final of I'm a Celeb, coming third behind winner Jill Scott and runner-up Owen Werner.
It is also reported the short-lived TV stint has not resulted in massive book sales. With Mr Hancock's Pandemic Diaries reportedly only selling a few thousand copies.
Friends say he was reportedly attempting to follow in the footstep of Ed Balls. The former Labour MP has become a TV personality after his stint on Strictly Come Dancing.
But even his allies now admit it is looking “unlikely” the former Tory health secretary will ever achieve national treasure status. The Mirror reported earlier this month Mr Hancock hoped to start a TV career after being booted from the Conservative Party.
He has suggested he could become a host of documentaries on subjects including dyslexia and assisted dying. Mr Hancock was stripped of the Tory whip in November after he abandoned his constituents to join ITV's I'm a Celebrity. He is thought to have earned a fee of around £400,000 for going on the show.
Next year he will appear on Channel 4 ’s Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins, which has already been recorded in Vietnam. He raked in £45,000 for taking part in the programme, which he filmed before heading to Australia to enter the jungle.
Mr Hancock announced earlier this month he will step down as an MP at the next election after senior figures in the local Tory association in his West Suffolk constituency warned they no longer wanted him to represent them. Matt Hancock's Pandemic Diaries: The Inside Story of Britain's Battle Against Covid entered the Neilsen book charts at number 191 earlier this month.
It has since plummeted out of the top 1,000. Released in time for Christmas, official sales figures show it sold 3,304 copies in the first week and just 600 in the second.
A spokesman for Mr Hancock last night said: "Matt has had lots of offers from agents wanting to represent him, but he's turned them all down as he doesn't want or need an agent."
