Former Cabinet minister Matt Hancock has had the Tory whip suspended after it emerged he was entering the jungle for I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
Earlier today we reported the ex-health secretary is said to be heading Down Under to participate in the new series of the hit ITV show.
The MP, who resigned from his ministerial position after he was exposed for cheating on his wife, will be the 12th celeb to join the line-up.
Chief whip Simon Hart: "Following a conversation with Matt Hancock, I have considered the situation and believe this is a matter serious enough to warrant suspension of the whip with immediate effect."
The show, which for the last two years has been filmed in a Welsh castle due to the coronavirus pandemic, has returned to the outback in Australia.
ITV bosses released official pictures of this year's line-up which includes Boy George, Mike Tindall, Chris Moyles, Jill Scott, Owen Warner, Olivia Attwood, Sue Cleaver, Scarlette Douglas, Babatunde Aleshe, Seann Walsh and Charlene White.
Reports started surfacing of Hancock's entry into the jungle after the first 11 contestants were announced on Monday night.
A TV insider told The Sun: "Matt is a sensational signing for the show as producers love a star with a story to tell - and they always hope they'll spill the beans round the campfire."
"He's the latest in a long line of figures from the political sphere, including MP Nadine Dorries, Stanley Johnson and MP Lembit Opik. There's been a question mark over who the twelfth campmate would be, partly because negotiations over Matt going in were so top secret. It seems Matt was a last-minute signing."
The programme returns to ITV on Sunday, November 6 at 9pm.
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